


Tangled

by offtheride



Category: CNBLUE (Band), f(x), 상속자들 | The Heirs
Genre: F/M, RPF
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-25
Updated: 2014-11-26
Packaged: 2018-01-13 18:15:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 76,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1236292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/offtheride/pseuds/offtheride
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She had never felt this comfortable around guys. So comfortable that she wished she had more skinship with him, even if it just in front of the camera. And he, he'd never smiled this much around girls before...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is not my first fic actually, but since I have about 3 other projects that need to be finished, so I wanted to apologize in advance just in case if I couldn't update this story often. I know, I shouldn't have post this if I was this busy, but I can't help it. I'm stuck with this couple!! (damn The Heirs!!!!)
> 
> Notes: This story would be rated M in later chapters, if you feel uncomfortable with it, save yourself and don't read. I will put some warnings at the top of the chapter if there is any explicit scenes in it.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, I would make Chanyoung-Bona had more kiss scenes ;ppp

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**   


***

It was a pretty hot sunny day for many people in Seoul. The heat of the sun didn't show any mercy for anyone who were already drenched in sweat, dehydrated, even though they wore clothes as thin as possible. Not even for her, who were just heading home after a long day of practicing in the studio with the other members. They were preparing for a live performance in one of the local television in South Korea, a typical routine for a girlband like them, that she finally getting used to after a few years. She wasn't complaining really, she loves singing and dancing, but _hell_ , her body still didn't get the memo that this is what she did for a living. The aches after moving every muscle in your body for hours never dissipated even if you did the same moves over and over again.

“Ahh... finally...” She threw herself to the comfort of her bed as soon as she got into her room, not even bothered to close the door or change her clothes. No way. Her bed was her heaven and the pillows were her best friends now. She thought it must be really awesome if she didn't have to leave this bed forever. Literally. A few seconds after, she realized that her bag was in between her stomach and the bed and poking through her ribs. “ _Aisshh_...” with all the energy she could mustered up at the time, she threw the bag over her head and ended up somewhere in the corner of her room. She knew she would probably regret it when she woke up later, but for now she really couldn't make herself to think of anything else other than sleep.

RRRRRRrrrrrrrr!!!!

There’s no movement from the bed.

RRRRRRRrrrrrrrr!!!!

Still nothing.

RRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!

_Stupid phone_.

RRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

She clenched her fists tight to the pillows, trying to ignore the freaking phone which still emerged to disturb her sleep even in a vibrate mode.

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!

“ _Yah_!! Jung Soojung!!!” A voice from outside of her room finally made her jump in surprise. She tried to recognized the voice that apparently was Sulli’s. “If you don’t want to answer it, just turn it off! Ssshh... I need some sleep!”

_Tsk!_ She was kind of regret it that she came to her dorm to sleep instead of to her home. It wasn't that far away from her dorm, but really, she was simply so exhausted and thought a good nap would be great. But she forgot that if there is one thing that she hated being the youngest member of the group, then this must be it: everyone could yell at her anytime. Sulli was known as a light sleeper, she couldn't sleep if there’s something that bothered her, even the slightest sound could woke her up. That’s why she’s the one who was always grumbling and whining and yelling all the time. It was annoying really, but everyone stopped complaining eventually. Sulli was a cheerful girl who could light up the room when she was in a good mood—and turned into a nasty bitch everytime she’s in a bad one—so they were getting used to it.

It was a torture to actually getting up from bed to her bag—which was surprisingly thrown pretty far despite her lack of energy—it was another long journey to find her phone in the bag with her eyes closed. She just wanted to turn it off, but curiosity win over her as she peeked with her right eye to see the name that was blinking rapidly on her screen. It was her manager.

And all of a sudden there’s not an ounce of drowsiness left in her head for it must be something really important everytime her manager called. She racked her memories if she did anything scandalous these days, but couldn't find any. Did she forgotten a schedule today? She rushed to her table with lightning speed, checking her schedule for the month and found that she didn't have anything other than dance practice that was just done a few hours ago. Clearing her throat, she finally answered her phone, “ _Yobuseyo?_ ”

***

She came back to the dorm shortly after her meeting with the management of SM Entertainment. She was still trying to digest all of her conversation earlier, wondering what was this all means to her career, if she should be delighted or nervous if she take the offer. She recalled what her manager had said to her.

_“Soojung-ah... we asked you to come here because you just got an offer to partake in a new drama series. I guess it was called The Heirs? They said that Lee Minho would be the main actor in it.”_

_She was surprised, obviously, “_ Mwo? _”_

_Lee Minho was one of the best actor in Korea, every single person in the country would be dying to get an opportunity to work together with him. And for her, who was absolutely have not much experience in acting, to suddenly had this opportunity was truly a great honor._

_“The script was wrote by Kim Eun Sook who had written Secret Garden and A Gentleman’s Dignity, so you can imagine how huge this project is and how lucky you are,” the manager added on, “and they said that you might be suitable for one of the character. I have read the rough script. Originally, they offered you the character as Yoo Rachel who was quite snobbish and bitchy, they said that it wouldn't be a problem to you since you were known as the ‘Ice Princess’. Or, you can play as Lee Bona who was just a slight bit nicer and cuter than Yoo Rachel.”_

_Soojung tried to absorb all of this information intently. Honestly, she didn't mind with either characters. She knew that like it or not, there’s no way she would turn down this opportunity to work with these big names in Korean industry. So, she just listened to what her manager said word to word._

_“But after contemplating it, we thought that you need to play Lee Bona. I think it would make a good impact on your reputation since so many people out there thought that you were this rude, unlikable girl, which we both know, and everyone in this management knows that you’re not. That’s why we never did anything to any of your scandals or insults from the fans, because we know that they didn't know the real you. So this is your chance, Soojung-ah, not just for making a great jump in your career, but also to change people’s perception about you. So, what do you think about it?”_

She smiled to herself as she walked through the door to her bedroom, decided that she would stay the night in the dorm. She didn't know that her management put that much care about her in person. They usually just sit back with their eyes, ears, and mouth shut, thinking that it was normal for idols to get a rumor. Well, most people thought so. But it was never sit well for her. She was too self-conscious not to care about what people thinking about her. And it’s frustrated her that she had so many _antis_ despite her effort to pleased them. While every other people told her to ignore the haters, she had tried everything to change her “icy” image. And by everything, she meant from keeping a low profile, being cute on reality show—even though it was embarrassing for her—to actually crying in interviews. But none of it worked. She was tired, to be honest, she couldn't keep this image and having these parade for the rest of her life that she thought of retiring early from her group so many times before, she lost count. And this is another chance for her, she didn't know what she’s going to do if this one fails.

After the call from her manager earlier, she had a few hours of sleep before she was called to the office where her manager told her about the offer. She sit down and pull it out her bag. There was written a list of the main cast and a review of each of their characters and their relationship to each other. She saw so many great names there: Lee Minho, Park Shin Hye, Kim Woo Bin _..._ all three are the best actors and actress these days. She giggled. Oh, she would meet her co-star in High Kick 3, Kim Jiwon, and she wondered how she would play the bitchy Yoo Rachel since in reality, she is a total angel. Then she saw the picture of a man named Kang Minhyuk, who according to her manager, would be her boyfriend on-screen. She was sure that she had met him before, probably in a music show, and she knew that he’s a member of a band named CNBLUE. She didn't know much about any other cast, but then she thought that it’s alright. They would have plenty time to know each other while filming.

“ _Soojung-ah,_ ” Victoria’s head suddenly appeared in front of her door, surprising her. “ _Ya_ , why did you smiling to yourself?” The leader of the group asked curiously, flopping down beside Soojung on the bed. “So, how’s the meeting? Is it something serious?”

Soojung shook her head, smiling. “ _Aniya..._ ” She waved the script to Victoria- _eomma_ , “I just got a new role.”

" _Jinjja?"_ she asked again while Soojung gave her an excited nod for an answer. "What is it about?" she took the papers from Soojung's hand without waiting for her approval and her eyes widen as she saw the main actor that was written there. "Wait, _Lee Minho?!"_

Soojung gave her her widest grin. " _Ne._ Isn't it great, _eomma_?" she giggled as Victoria stared at her with surprising eyes.

"Woah... _uri Soojungie_... _daebak!_ " Victoria then read the whole cast and their respective roles, finally realized that her _dongsaeng_ actually got a pretty important role. " _Yah_ , so you would play as Lee Minho's ex, then you and Kang Minhyuk got to play as the second lead couple?" she got another series of nod from Soojung. " _Soojungie_ , you really are a lucky girl. You don't know how much I envy you right now. Why did they pick you instead of me?"

Soojung could only snickered as Victoria whined at her. She knew her leader meant it as half-serious half-kidding. The leader of her group is a wise and kind-hearted woman, so even though their age gap was pretty far, it didn't matter that much. They respected each other, knowing that they would support each other for the shake of their group.

A curious Amber sneak a peek to her door, wondering what her group mates doing. "Can I join you?"

"Sure," Soojung smiled then pat the bed beside her, "Come sit here. I had some great news."

Amber's reaction to Soojung's was not much different from Victoria. She was pretty surprised and excited for her. The three were now chatting animatedly about all the cast.

" _Yah, Soojung-ah_..." suddenly Amber asked with a serious expression, "So you and Kang Minhyuk will be a couple..." a mischievous smile grew from her lips, making her _dongsaeng_ felt uneasy, "do you want me to introduce you to him?"

Soojung blinked. Out of a sudden her brain seem rather slow to interpret what Amber implied with that offer. "Wait. You know him??"

That smile on Amber's face grew wider. "Of course. CNBLUE members often came by to hang with us. They're pretty close with Kyuhyun _oppa_ , Heechul _oppa_ , and Seohyun _unnie_. Don't you know that?"

" _Molla,"_ Soojung shook her head with that innocent look of hers, couldn't even think to hide her amazed look at Amber. That girl sure _knew_ everyone, and everyone knew her. She was probably the most easy-going person she ever met, a skill that Soojung envy so much. If only she had had that kind of personality, maybe no one would call her as the 'Ice Princess'. Maybe she wouldn't have so much antis. It's just too bad that she was too shy of a person and too introverted. "But, _unnie_ , how do you know him?"

"Jonghyun _oppa,_ their guitarist,introduced us once because I said I used to play drums. He had crazy skills, you know? He's also very kind and friendly. I think you would like him," she teased Soojung who was now sporting a slight blush around her cheeks.

Victoria joined Amber in teasing their youngest member, "Ohh...look at her! She liked him already! _Yah, yah_ , Amber, so was he tall? I think I remember someone who likes a tall guy..."

" _Yah_..." Soojung covered her reddened face, but that only make the other girls on fire.

" _Oh! Oh!_ " Amber confirmed excitedly. "He is really tall. Your height probably only as his chin. Oh it's the perfect height to hug!"

Soojung tried so hard not to smile, but it was futile. She slapped Amber's shoulder, but the boyish girl just doubled over.

"Ohh... She's imagining it!" Victoria wiggled her eyebrows playfully, "But we haven't asked the most important question: is he cute?"

Amber's answer was almost immediate. "Abso-freaking-lutely!!"

" _Yah!_ Both of you, stop it!" Soojong yelled, but no one heard her. It was only make Sulli and Luna came to join them.

"What is it? What is it? What happened?" asked Sulli as she joined them.

" _Uri Soojungie_ would soon have a boyfriend!" Victoria answered while laughing.

" _Eomma!_ " Soojung tried to deny it. "It's not true. Don't listen to her!"

" _Jinjja na yo_?" Luna ignore her. " _Dugu_?"

"I think we should browse him," Amber said.

" _Yahh!!_ These guys seriously!"

That night, the girls was busy surfing the internet to find Soojung's-boyfriend-wannabe, laughing along as they teased her mercilessly. She was pissed, and embarrassed, but she's also curious about this guy. She could only hope that he is as nice as he looked and as kind as people said he was, so she could be comfortable during filming. She also hoped that her group would stop teasing her all the time, because if not, _God please help me_...

***


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Still own nothing...**

***

He took his drumsticks and started beating them to his drums, creating a harmonious sound along with his band mates. They’re currently performing at a local TV music show, promoting their new song. Sweats dropping from his forehead, but it only made him even more excited. He loves his job. He didn’t care if he would always sit in the back with his face hidden behind his drumset, or if he didn’t get the spotlight as much as the other members had, as long as he could play his drums for the rest of his life and make a living out of it, it would be okay. No. It is beyond perfect.

Having played the drums practically all of his life, he was actually living in a dream. His dad was the one who had introduced him to this particular instrument since he was 9, and he fell instantly in love with it. He felt so lucky to meet his band, and with a lot of hard work, together they finally made it to the music industry. He flashed back to the time where they have to perform on the streets in Japan, where their management company kinda “dumped” them there to gather some audiences. Well, let’s face it, a rock band wasn’t exactly a trend in K-pop industry at the time, but since he was suck at other things—like singing and dancing, Lord knows he tried—so no, this band was his best shot.

And, _damn_ , he was right.

Lately, they could already tasted the sweetness of stardom. Their songs got first place week after week on local charts, invitations to perform on and off-screen flying everywhere, even ticket concerts sold out both local and abroad. They were insanely busy, but they love it. 2013 was totally their year.

It was another successfull performance for the 4 members band. They had an interview for a local magazine after this and they’re done for the day. Except for Kang Minhyuk and Jung Yonghwa. Both of them were called to the FNC office by their CEO.

“I bet it’s about the audition,” the eldest of the band, Jung Yonghwa, said as they were heading back to the dorm to send Jonghyun and Jungshin home first.

“Who do you think would get the role?” Jungshin asked. He was munching on some snacks, making a whole lot of mess around the seat. “You want some?” he offered it to Jonghyun and Minhyuk who sat on each side of him.

Jonghyun took some of the snacks, “I think Minhyuk will get it. He’s a better actor than all of us. Sorry, _hyung_ ,” he patted his leader on the shoulder who sat at the front seat, using the same hand he took his snacks with.

“Ugh,” Yonghwa tried to get rid of the crumbs from his clothes, “ _Yah_ , Lee Jonghyun! Get your dirty hands out of me. You’re ruining my new jacket,” he whined like a little kid and pouted cutely.

The three junior just look at each other and grinned. Here he goes, their adorable-sophisticated-fashionable-histrionic-leader. Sometimes Minhyuk thought that Lee Jonghyun was the one who should be the leader instead of his _hyung_. Jung Yonghwa probably the eldest, but he’s the most childish of them all. Well, that’s probably not true, Lee Jungshin is the most childish, but still. He couldn’t say that he’s the most mature of them all either—the title obviously belong to Minhyuk—but Jonghyun had his own childish moments. Minhyuk couldn’t be the leader, not because he’s the youngest member, but simply because he didn’t want to. He couldn’t imagine having to control three childish _hyungs_ who were most probably won’t listen to him.

“I heard Park Shin Hye _noona_ would be the lead female?” Asked Jungshin again, which were answered with a nod from both Jung Yonghwa and Kang Minhyuk. “And what was your role again?”

“I was offered as Shin Hye _noona_ childhood friend who had a crush on her, while Yonghwa- _hyung_ was offered the same role as me _and_ the lead male role,” Minhyuk explained for everyone to hear.

“Aaahh~~” Jungshin and Jonghyun nodded. “But why was Yonghwa _hyung_ offered 2 roles and you just one, Minhyukkie?” Jungshin asked again.

“It’s because I’m Mr. Popular, Jungshinnie~~” Yonghwa bragged, smiling so wide with eyes shining bright. “And I have more experience in acti—”

“I think you’ll get the role, Minhyukkie,” Jungshin cut him off abruptly.

“Yeah!” Jonghyun gave him and Minhyuk a high-five and the three laughed out loud, ignoring their grumbling leader, who was once again pouting cutely.

“ _Yah_! You ungrateful brats!”

The car stopped in front of their dorm, Jonghyun and Jungshin get off still laughing their heads off.

“Goodluck, Minhyukkie!” They bid their goodbye to Minhyuk, who was also still laughing along.

“ _Yah!!_ No goodluck for me?” Yonghwa yelled out of jealousy, which only make them rolling on the floor, laughing even louder. 

*** 

CEO Han brewed them some cups of coffee, one for each of them. CNBLUE is his gold digger now, their popularity increasing each year, and he’s going to put a good use on it, not just for CNBLUE, but for the other groups in his management as well. This new drama is one of his huge project. Since 2 of CNBLUE members were offered for the roles already, he tried talking to the director so that his other band, FT Island would get the opportunity to sing the soundtrack. For that, he also invited Lee Hongki to the meeting.

“Why am I here?” Lee Hongki started whining. “Did I get a role, too? CEO Han... you know I can’t act. I’m terrible at it!”

Yonghwa and Minhyuk laughed at him. Everyone knew Lee Hongki’s bratty attitude, but they all kinda use to it. The guy was hilarious, actually.

“ _Yah_. Who said I’m going to give you a role?” CEO Han put the cups on the table in his meeting room, “I don’t think anyone would hire you again after the last time I gave you a role.”

Lee Hongki sulked on the couch, grumbling, “You don’t have to be that mean.”

“ _Aisshh_ ~~~this guy, _jinjja_...” CEO Han took a seat at the head of the table. “Let’s get to the business,” he turned to the CNBLUE members, ignoring the sulking Hongki with all his might, “I have talked to the director and the writer about your roles.”

The guys listened to him intently. “We decided that Kang Minhyuk would get the role as Yoon Chan Young. I’m sorry, Yonghwa- _ah_ , you didn’t get any part in the drama.”

“Oh~~”

“ _Aisshh~_ ”

“Hmm... Congratulations, Minhyukkie,” Hongki congratulated him genuinely. “Revenge is so sweet, isn’t it? I knew you’ll get the role. Great job!” He clapped his hands in amasement.

“ _Yahh!_ Why did everyone taking his sides? Why did no one giving me any support? I’ve been working so hard...”

Minhyuk laughed at his _hyung_ ’s declaration, while the other two audiences went speechless with his obviously over-confidence.

“ _Hyung_ , don’t look so sad,” Minhyuk patted him on the shoulder, “You could always get a new role.”

Yonghwa turned to him with puppy eyes, “Minhyukkieee...” he then rested his head on his shoulder, “I know you’re the best! I love you, Minhyukkieee...”

The younger guy just laugh with this weird love confession, “I love you too, _hyung_...”

CEO Han and Hongki stared at the public display of affection in disbelief.

“The drama hasn’t even started yet, but I feel like I’m watching one already,” Hongki mumbled to his CEO.

“Tsk...tsk...tsk...and here I thought _uri Minhyukkie_ is the only one normal left. I was so wrong,” CEO Han shaking his head, “He’s obviously hang around with him too much.”

“They desperately need a girlfriend,” Hongki added, mentally hoping he wouldn’t turned out that way.

“ _Yah_ , I would have one if I get that role,” Yonghwa cut in. Looking at his CEO pleadingly.

CEO Han glared, “With who? Park Shin Hye? _Yah_! She’s the reason why you didn’t get the role! This would be your third drama with her if you did. Aren’t you tired of getting in scandal with her?”

Yonghwa pouted, “But Minhyukkie also had played a drama with her before...”

“But he never get in any scandal!” CEO Han retorted with a scowl on his face.

“ _Arasseo! Arasseo! Aissshh~~~_ Can we go home now? I’m tired.”

“ _Yah!_ I’m not finished yet. Stay here,” CEO Han gave Minhyuk a stack of paper that looked like a book, “That’s the rough script. Learn your character and everyone’s relationships carefully.”

Minhyuk accepted it and went straight to the first page. “Woahh~~”

“What is it?” Yonghwa took a peek on it.

“No wonder you didn’t get the lead role, _hyung_. He’s out of your league,” Minhyuk showed the script to him.

“ _Dugu?_ ” Hongki asked out of curiosity.

“Lee Minho,” Yonghwa read it out loud, and suddenly his eyes bulged in surprise, “ _Lee Minho?! Jinjja?_ ”

“Woaaahh~~~” Hongki now laughing with his hands clapping in amusement. “ _Daeeeebaakk! Daebak!_ ”

“Why you didn’t tell me that he was my competitor??”

“How would I know? The writer brought him up at the last minutes.”

Yonghwa turned back to Minhyuk with his cutest pleading eyes he had, “Minhyukkieeee...” he batted his eyelashes unashamedly, “Will you please take care of my angel on set? I know I can count on you, right?”

“Sure, _hyung_ ,” Minhyuk replied, soothing him with his smile, “I’ll keep an eye on _noona_.”

“ _Gomawo, Minhyukkie!!_ ” Yonghwa hugged his lovely _dongsaeng_ , relieved.

CEO Han rubbed his head, “ _Aigoo_ , my head hurts watching these two.”

“ _Na do_ ,” Hongki agreed. “Just hurry, tell me why did you call me. I can’t stand them any longer.”

“Oh, almost forgot about that. I’m trying to offer you to make a few songs for the soundtrack of this drama. I’ll make some too, but we’ll see if anything’s fit for it.”

“ _Mwo_? Why me? Why don’t you ask them? They’re better at it.”

“ _Yah!_ Don’t you want to step up your popularity? CNBLUE had enough of it, I’m trying to help you and your band. _Aiisshh~_ ”

“Tsk... _ara._ I’ll see what I can do. But I’ll need the script, too.”

“Here, I have a copy for you. Do you get any more questions? No? Good. Now get out of here,” but just after everyone got up from their seats, the CEO suddenly said, “Wait a minute!” then all of them sit back again with curious written all over their faces. “I almost forgot. Yonghwa- _ah_ , you were called for an audition for a role along with Yoon Eun Hye in another drama. We’ll arrange the schedule for you tomorrow.”

“Woah~” Minhyuk and Hongki congratulated him, “I told you, _hyung_ , you’ll get another role in a blink of an eye.”

Yonghwa grinned widely than shake his CEO hands with too much eagerness, “Thank you, CEO Han, thank you. You are the best!”

“ _Yah,_ don’t think of dating Yoon Eun Hye, _arraseo_?! If you get into any scandal, I swear—“

“I won’t, I won’t,” Yonghwa said trying to convinced his CEO who didn’t buy his words at all, “I won’t get into any scandal with Yoon Eun Hye _noona_ or anyone else for that matter. Trust me,” he said it with so much confidence, but the CEO just glared at him. “Now, can we go home now?” 

***

The next morning, Jungshin cooked breakfast for all. He had a really good sleep last night and woke up so fresh this morning that he felt like being a saviour for his band mates. They had another interview on local TV show in a few hours and it’s already 7 in the morning. He took his time, whistling happily.

A click sound heard from one of the bedroom, revealing a yawning Minhyuk wearing only his white shirt and checkered boxer.

“Good morning, Minhyukkie!!” greeted Jungshin cheerfully. “Did you have a good sleep?”

“Hmm...” Minhyuk yawned some more and went straight to the bathroom.

“Keep your eyes open, Minhyukkie... You don’t want to hit yourself—“

“Ouch!” A sound of something collided heard from the bathroom followed by a series of curses from Minhyuk.

Jungshin chuckled, “—again.”

A few moments later, Minhyuk came out of the bathroom looking fresh and dapper after taking a bath. He approached Jungshin who was still busy cooking in the kitchen, “Smells good. Do you need any help?”

“ _Ani_. I’ll be finished in a few minutes. You could woke our _hyungs_ up, we don’t want to be late for the interview.”

“ _Ne_. Thank you, Jungshinnie...”

Jonghyun was the next one who got ready, while Yonghwa was the last one. They all waited for each other so they could have breakfast together.

“You looked tired, Yonghwa- _hyung_ , what time did you get home last night?” Jonghyun asked after he saw his _hyung_ yawned several times.

“Oh. I think it’s about 10 p.m.? I don’t know... I was so tired I went straight to sleep...”

“Ohh...so, did you get the role?” Jonghyun asked again.

“ _Ani..._ Minhyuk got it, as you all said—”

“But he got another offer for audition with Yoon Eun Hye,” Minhyuk elaborated.

“Woahh...so that’s why you didn’t look upset at all,” said Jungshin.

“I know, right? Korean nitizen could never had enough of me—“

Minhyuk mumbled, “Here he goes again...”

Jungshin abruptly asked Minhyuk, “So, are you going to have a romantic scene with Park Shin Hye _noona_? Ohh... I’m so looking forward for it. I bet Yonghwa- _hyung_ would be so envious...” he snickered which followed by Jonghyun’s laugh.

“I hope so,” Minhyuk chuckled as his _hyung_ glared at him with that don’t-you-dare-look. “But, I’m not sure about that yet. The script said that my character already had another girlfriend...”

“ _Jinjja? Dugu?_ ” Jungshin asked.

“Krystal Jung from f(x).”

“Ahh~” Jonghyun nodded in recognition, “ _Uri Minhyukkie_ always got a pretty girlfriend, I’m so jealous.”

“You know her?” Minhyuk asked Jonghyun back.

“I didn’t know her personally, but people sometimes talked about her because she looked like Yoona of SNSD, while in fact she’s Jessica’s little sister.”

“Ah...I’ve heard about that, too,” Minhyuk confirmed. “I think I’ve met her a couple of times before, but we’ve never been introduced properly.”

“Do you want to visit SM dorm?” Jonghyun suggested, “We could ask Heechul- _hyung_ or Amber about her. Or better, they would probably introduced you to her, let’s see if there’s any chemistry between both of you?” he smiled mischieviously, igniting everyone in the room to tease Minhyuk until he’s blushing.

“ _Hyung_...I don’t think that’s necessary...”

“Be careful, Hyukkie...” Yonghwa added, “Our CEO strictly said ‘Don’t get in any scandal’, remember?”

“ _Hyung_...”

“ _Aigoo~_ ” Jungshin joined in, “Minhyukkie, you’re too easy. Look at your face, you’re already turned so red and you haven’t even met her yet...”

Minhyuk could only hid his face behind his hand in shame, silently cursing his traitorous body...

***           

      


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Still own nothing. If I did, I might as well make them dating for real. Gosh, I missed them so much I need to see them together again!**

***

“ _Annyeonghaseyo_ ,” with a shy smile, she bowed to greet her cast mates respectfully, “ _Krystal Jung imnida_. I’ll be playing as Lee Bona. I hope all of you could help me,” she took her seat again. To say that she was nervous would be underrated; she was trembling tremendously. Today was the first script reading for her new drama, and she had been trying hard to get into her character. She also had a lot of questions, especially regarding her relationships with Yoon Chan Young.

Speaking of her boyfriend-on-screen, she hadn’t introduced herself to the man who played the role, Kang Minhyuk. At all. There he was, sitting on the opposite end of the same table as her, and she just didn’t have the courage to greet him. She was the youngest casts of them all, and she knew that she should be the one who was running around greeting everyone else, but God _damn_ it, she didn’t know how to do it properly.

Kim Jiwon, who sat right beside her because Krystal asked her to, had just read her lines along with Minho _oppa_ , Woobin _oppa_ , and Shin Hye _unnie_. She did well; very well actually, and it didn’t help her to ease her nerves. She envied her because Jiwon was such a great actress, and everyone praised her because she could portray her bitchy character really well despite her sweet look. The writer and the director said that she need to practice her expression to be more arrogant so people would believe her character.

“Okay, now, let’s go to the next scene,” said the director, “Let’s see...oh, it’s Yoon Chan Young and Lee Bona, with Cha Eun Sang scene. So please, Kang Minhyuk- _ssi_ , Krystal- _ssi_ , and Shin Hye- _ssi_ , please read your lines carefully.”

The scene was started with Chan Young and Eun Sang dialogue, so Krystal had more time to read her lines. Both of them seemed like they had more fun, probably because their characters are best friend and they were already friends in real life. She bit her lip. Her first scene had a lot of lovey-dovey with Chan Young; she need to covered his mouth and he would rubbing her hair multiple times—thank God there’s no hugging scenes there, because if there was, she would probably die. How could she being all lovey-dovey with a guy who she had never been talking to? _Aiishh_... she scratched her head lightly, regretting why she didn’t approach him first thing first the second she saw him earlier. Or better, she should let Amber _unnie_ drag her to introduced her to him right after she had gotten the role.

“ _Yah, Yoon Chan Young!!_ ” She read her lines at the right time, “Take your eyes off of her!”

“Wait,” the director cut her off. “Krystal- _ssi_ , could you have more expression while saying ‘Yoon Chan Young’? You need to look more jealous and angry, while all you did just pouted cutely. Lee Bona is a strong character, even though she’s spoiled rotten but she is not weak. Be more demanding, okay?”

Krystal nodded in embarrasment, mumbling, “ _Ne_.” It was her first line, for God’s sake, her first line! And the director already unsatisfied with her. Everyone was watching—scratch that—scrutinizing her now. _Put yourself together, Soojungie_...

“Okay, can we start over? We start from Krystal- _ssi_...”

She took a deep breath, and tried to push away her nervousness. She put her best angry look, “ _Yah! Yoon Chan Young!_ ”

“ _Ani, ani_ , not like that. That looked more like sulking, not angry. Let’s try again.”

“ _Yah! Yoon Chan Young!_ ”

“ _Yahhh...Yoon Chan Young!_ ”

“No, a bit more angry, Krystal- _ssi_... like ‘ _Yoon Chan Young_ ’!!” the director gave her an example of a very scary glare, that she thought were really meant for her.

She was so embarrased right now, her face must turned really red at that very moment. She was starting to feel frustrated, how hard it is to say one’s name in angry tone? It wasn’t even a line! _This is so embarassing, they must thought that I’m a joke_...

“ _Yah Yoon Chan Young_!!!” she tried for the nth times, this time with a little thump on her feet and a glare that could kill, just like the director said.

“Woah~” everyone’s now amazed at her, some even clapped their hands. Krystal just kept her head down, feeling even more embarrased with the sudden praise.

“Don’t stop, keep it up. Read your next line,” said the director, silencing everyone else.

 _Finally_...she mentally congratulated herself, and proceed to the next line.

*** 

He was smiling at her antics. No. He was trying hard to hold his laughter because that would be rude. The poor girl was struggling, hard. And that girl would be his girlfriend for a couple of months. This is the first time he ever saw her in person—well, probably they had, but they never talked—and she was already acting so cute. How he would survive for the rest of the filming? He really didn’t know. But one thing for sure, he would have so much fun.

They’re finally finishing their first lines, much to her relieved. He knew that because he took another glance at her—again—and saw how she continously took a deep breath and puffed them out with that cute little pout of hers. She pouted a lot. It’s amazing how he had noticed that she had a lot kind of pouts in a few minutes, and still look so adorably cute. He was smiling again as now it’s the writer turn to give her a suggestion about her character. Poor girl, it was just the first script reading, and everyone had already been so hard at her. He felt like he should come to her rescue and protecting her, just because he was supposed to be her boyfriend.

 _Okay, keep your head on the line, Kang Minhyuk_.

“Krystal- _ssi_...” he heard the writer talked to her, “Lee Bona might be not the main character in this drama, but I hope you see that she had a very important role here. She was that character who put all of the other characters together, you know what I mean? She was from the upper class environment, so she would get along with all of the rich kids, but she also had a relationship with Yoon Chan Young who was from the lower class, so you need to get along with them, too. Yoon Chan Young would be no one if he didn’t date Lee Bona. Not to mention that she also had a link with her _sunbae_ , and Chan Young’s father, so you’re the one who would glued them all together. So please, I hope you can work well with everyone in here and make Lee Bona a lovable character.”

“ _Ne_. Thank you very much for your advice, Kim Eun Sook- _ssi_...” she bowed. Kang Minhyuk could already see the weight of her character started to make her even more nervous, he really hoped she could bear it. He also made a mental note to help her if he could, that’s for sure.

About 4 hours later, everyone had already read their lines. Each and everyone of them got some insights about their own characters either from the writer, director, and from the other casts. After this they would have lunch together and had some photoshoots. The director said that they wanted to see if they need to change some of the casts appearance to match their characters well.

He was just getting up from his seat, when a familiar voice greeted him. “Minhyukkie...” he saw Park Shin Hye smiling at him.

“Oh, _noona_...” he bowed to her respectfully.

Shin Hye slapped his arm playfully, “Don’t be so awkward... You’re acting like you don’t know me at all.”

Minhyuk just chuckled, “Sorry, _noona_. It just that we haven’t met for a long time, I thought you’re already forgotten about me,” he said, joking around with her.

“ _Yahh_... how can I forget? You’re my favorite _dongsaeng_ of all. _Aigoo_ ~ look at you. You’ve gotten so much mature now, I bet the girls gone crazy with those eye-smiles, aren’t they?”

He smiled sheepishly, he could already feel the blood rushing to his cheeks.

“Hahaha... I see that you’re still that shy-little-boy, aren’t you? Hmm... guess you didn’t change that much, huh?”

“ _Noona_... stop teasing me,” Minhyuk pleaded, then added with a low tone, “I don’t want Yonghwa- _hyung_ to think that you’re flirting with me.”

Park Shin Hye laughed even more, “That’s nonsense. I bet he’s doing really well without me.”

“How can you be so sure?” Minhyuk challenged her. “He was so upset that he didn’t get the role, he literally asked me to keep an eye on you.”

“ _Jinjja_?” Shin Hye asked curiously, obviously didn’t believe his words at all. “What exactly did he tell you?”

“He said,” Minhyuk then impersonated his _hyung_ the best he could, “ _Minhyukkie... will you take care of my angel on set?_ He said that right in front of Hongki and our CEO. Especially after he knew that his role was taken by none other than Lee Minho,” he explained, trying to convinced her. But Park Shin Hye just laughed even louder.

“Stop flattering me. It won’t get you anywhere,” Shin Hye then said. “By the way, you had another cute-pretty-little-girlfriend here, Minhyukkie... have you been talking to her? I saw you trying to sneak a peek every once in a while just now...” she teased him again. “Don’t you want to approach her? She’s been doing the same thing ever since I talked to you. How cute!”

Minhyuk kinda surprised with Shin Hye revelation, he glanced at the girl whom he knew was standing far away behind him, talking with Kim Jiwon. At that exact moment, he caught her looking at him, their eyes met for a second before her face turned red and she took her eyes off of him to look at somewhere else. He smiled. That’s right, _so cute_!

Suddenly, Shin Hye whispering to him, “I say... let’s go and talk to her. Show her what a gentleman you are and save the damsel in distress out of her misery. _Kajja_!” The next thing he knew, Park Shin Hye were already pushing him to walk towards his supposed-to-be-girlfriend.

He knew that she was nervous knowing that he was getting closer to her. He could tell by the way she was fidgeting with her feet, even pretending that she didn’t saw him coming.

“Krystal- _ssi_ , Jiwon- _ssi_...” he greeted the girls first, followed by Park Shin Hye.

“Ah. Minhyuk _oppa_ ,” the girls bowed back, “Shin Hye _unnie_ , _annyeonghaseyo_...”

“Oh, so you knew my name,” said Minhyuk with a playful tone, “I was going to introduced myself to you, but since you already knew—“ he was stopped as Park Shin Hye nudged him by the waist.

“ _Yah_ , if you’re going to be that way, the girls would runaway. No wonder they were so nervous they didn’t want to approach you first,” Shin Hye scolded him, then turned to the girls smiling sweetly. It’s scary how fast she changed her expression in a second. “Girls, if he’s giving you any trouble, you could always tell me. I will scolded him immediately. Okay?”

Minhyuk chuckled as Park Shin Hye frankly defending her girls.

“ _Ne_ _unnie..._ ” the girls bowed obediently.

“So, did you guys knew each other already? I saw you two really close,” asked Shin Hye, opened up for conversation.

“ _Ne_. Jiwon _unnie_ and I have met before in High Kick 3...” Krystal answered when Minhyuk suddenly butted in.

“High Kick 3?”

The girls nodded in unison.

Minhyuk then explained, “Oh, I had an offer to play there as well, but dropped out immediately.”

“ _Jinjja oppa_?” Krystal asked in surprised, looking at Jiwon who was equally surprised.

“Wahh... we could’ve met before...What a coincidence...” Jiwon added. “But, Shin Hye _unnie_ also played in High Kick 2, right?”

“Oh, you knew? It was so long ago... But actually I was curious,” Shin Hye turned to Krystal, “both Krystal- _ssi_ and Minhyukkie are idol, right? Didn’t you met each other a lot at music shows? I thought both of you would have known each other well by now...”

“Umm... _unnie_... that’s...” Krystal tried to answer Shin Hye, her eyes met with Minhyuk like they were asking for help...

“Actually, Shin Hye _noona_ ,” out of a sudden, it’s Minhyuk who was speaking out, “Usually at those music shows, there were so many people at once, and we were all busy with our own practices. So it was almost impossible to greet every and each one of them properly. Especially since we’re not from the same company. We’ve probably met before, but we didn’t know each other personally, so...” their eyes met again, and this time both of them smiling at each other in understanding.

“ _Ne unnie_ ,” Krystal added, “To be honest, 2 of my members in f(x) were pretty close with other CNBLUE member, like Yonghwa _oppa_. But I personally had never met him before—“

“What?” Shin Hye asked in surprise, “You’ve never met him before? Yonghwa _oppa_?” Krystal shook her head innocently, “Wahh... and here I thought he’s really popular...”

“He _is_ very popular... but I only knew him from Sulli’s story or on TV, but I’ve never been talked to him in person, let alone with the other members...”

“Ohh... so that’s how it is...” Shin Hye nodded her head a few times, “I’ve been thinking about it many times before, what’s wrong with these idols? They’ve met every week on TV so I thought every idols must have knew each other pretty well. It’s really different with us, actors and actresses, we’ll only met if we were in a same drama or movie. We would be pretty close during filming, but after that, we’ll be on our own separated ways. Just like Minhyukkie and I, we were pretty close in our previous drama, but after that drama was over, I’ve never seen him anymore besides on TV.”

“But _unnie_ , even if you haven’t met him for a long time, you’re still pretty close...”

“ _Oh_ ,” Shin Hye confirmed, “Just like you and Jiwon- _ssi_ , right? Isn’t is convenient to have someone you’ve known before in a midst of strangers? It makes you feel less awkward.”

“That’s true,” Krystal smiled shyly, “Especially since this is my first drama ever, so it is a relieve to met a familiar face. I felt so relieved to know that Jiwon _unnie_ was casted as well.”

“Aww~ isn’t she so cute?” Jiwon giggled looking at Krystal genuine confession.

“I know, right?” Shin Hye agreed, “Jiwon- _ssi_ , is she always this cute?”

“ _Oh_ , you’ll see that Krystal- _ssi_ is a very cute and energetic girl. She’ll jump around here and there, making the whole set brigthen up with her cheerful attitude. Although she’s a bit shy for now...” Jiwon nudged Krystal as the girl beside her smiled sheepishly.

“But Jiwon- _ssi_ , why did she called you _unnie_? I thought both of you were the same age?” Minhyuk asked.

“ _Ani_...” Krystal replied almost immediately, “I’m the youngest cast in here and Jiwon _unnie_ is 2 years older than me...”

“Is that so? What year were you born?”

“’94.”

“I’m ‘92”, Jiwon added.

“Ahh... I’m ’91. So Krystal- _ssi_ is 3 years younger than me, and Jiwon- _ssi_ a year younger than me.”

“I’m ’90,” Shin Hye also joined in, “God, I feel _so_ old...” she giggled.

“You’re not that old, _noona_...”

“ _Yah_ , you’re calling me _noona_ didn’t make me feel better at all...”

The four of them now laughing together. Their tingling sound made everyone in the room looking at them curiously. That’s when the male casts were started to join in their conversation.

“ _Yah yah yah_...” Kim Woobin put his arm around Minhyuk, “What is this? Minhyuk- _ssi_ , did you just take all the girls for yourself? Wah... I can’t believe you had it in you. You’re really fast!”

The girls nodded and said their greetings to the male casts, which were replied with a slight nod from the guys.

Minhyuk chuckled as Lee Minho was suddenly standing on his other side, “Did you knew each other already? Seemed like all of you was really having fun in here...”

“It’s not like that, _hyung_...” Minhyuk denied with all his might, “We’re just barely introduced ourselves to each other... It turned out that we’ve almost met in High Kick 3. It just that I was dropped out from it, and Shin Hye _noona_ was actually playing in High Kick 2.”

“Ohh... is that so?” Kim Woobin nodded in understanding. “Oh Jiwon- _ssi_ , aren’t we also have met before?”

“ _Ne oppa_ ,” Jiwon replied, “We’ve met in ‘To the Beautiful You’, along with Kang Ha Neul _oppa_.”

“I see... and Minhyuk- _ssi_ , aren’t you in the same band as Jonghyun- _ssi_? I’ve played with him last year in ‘A Gentleman’s Dignity’.”

“That’s right, _hyung_. Jonghyun- _hyung_ also said hi and good luck to you. He said I could really look up to you.”

Woobin chuckled at Minhyuk, “I’m not that experienced. Besides, can you tell Jonghyun- _ssi_ to teach me on Judo? I need to learn it fast for my character.”

“Oh, did your character played Judo as well?”

Woobin nodded with his signature curled lips, “My character has a black-belt in Judo. And I don’t even know how to play it,” he then laughed out loud, looking absolutely distress with his role.

“Fighting, _oppa_ ,” Krystal suddenly cheered him up, “You can do it.”

Everyone in the circle now looking at her with amused written on their faces. Once again, Krystal had turned red with the sudden attention, absolutely clueless of what she had done wrong.

Minhyuk and Shin Hye was the one who cracked up first, followed by Jiwon and Lee Minho.

“ _Wae..._ ” Krystal pouted in embarrasment, “What did I do? Why was everyone looking at me like that?”

“Is she your girlfriend, Minhyuk- _ssi_?” asked Woobin to the boy who was having a hard time to stop his laugh. When Minhyuk finally nodded in confirmation, that signature smirk of his came out on his dashingly handsome face, “How lucky. I’ve played a couple of dramas before, but not once I’ve ever been paired with a beautiful girlfriend. Poor me...”

“Wah, _jinjja oppa_?” Shin Hye asked, disbelief. “You’ve never been paired with a girl before?”

“Never,” Woobin replied, showing his disappointed face to Shin Hye. “Even in this drama, everyone else got a girl but me. It really really wasn’t fair.”

“Poor, _oppa_...” Shin Hye tried giving her sympathy, “I hope for the next role you’ll get a very pretty girlfriend and have a lot of romantic scenes with her.”

“Now I feel pity for that girl,” Woobin said seriously, but everyone laughed knowing he was joking around. “I’m really really suck at being romantic. Many girls would have scared just by looking at my devilish face. Maybe that’s the reason why no one willing to be my girlfriend even just for the camera,” he continued, making everyone laugh even more with his silly self pity.

“ _Aniyaa_...”

“That’s not true!”

The girls objected almost in unison. “Woobin _oppa_ is so good looking, I bet the girls would line up to be paired up with you. Maybe they just haven’t found the right girl who could really match up with you yet,” Shin Hye tried to reason out.

“ _Geude_?” the girls nodded vigorously, “Fine. I’ll accept it for now. In the mean time, maybe I should asked some suggestion on how being romantic on Minho _hyung_ and Minhyuk- _ssi_?”

Minhyuk looked a bit startled, “Well, I don’t know... I think Minho _hyung_ had much much more experiences than me...” he looked to Lee Minho for help.

“Me? Why me? There are a lot of senior actors who had more experiences than me...” Minho looked around, and seeing the hopeful eyes of all of his cast mates somehow make him feel a bit awkward, “Well, this is weird. This is the first time I’ve become the oldest one while usually I’m one of the youngest cast,” he cleared his throat, “Well, I think the most important thing when you play as a couple is that you need to talk with your partner about the things that make the others comfortable and what’s not. You need to be honest to each other, because you don’t want to be awkward for the rest of the filming. Trust me, it will show. So yes, I think communication is the most important part, then practicing a lot will help to subside the nerves.”

“Woah~~” everyone seemed like they were absorbed with Minho’s speech.

“That’s how a professional actor shared his experience...” Minhyuk complimented him again, “Please help me at the filming, _hyung_...”

“ _Yah_ , you’re also had some experience of being a couple, why did you still asked for my help?”

“But I’ve never had the main roles, they’re just small parts in the drama...”

“But still...”

“I’ve seen you’ve always got a kissing scene in the drama, so _uri Minhyukkie_ must have gotten used to it,” Shin Hye joined in in what seem like a let’s-joined-forces-to-cornered-Kang-Minhyuk-game.

“ _Noona_... why are you being like this?” Minhyuk looked panic, why all of a sudden people were attacking him?

“Eyyy...” even Kim Woobin started to tease him, “Even in this drama you’ve got to be all lovey-dovey with Krystal- _ssi_... I am so jealous...”

“ _Hyung_...”

Unbeknowst to Minhyuk who was currently busy defending himself from the _sunbae_ , a certain pretty girl using that moment to stare at him openly, without the fear of anyone being suspicious. Shin Hye and Jiwon were also watching the boys silly interaction while laughing once in a while. It seemed like her boyfriend-on-screen was really a kind and friendly person, everyone seemed approaching him easily. She also realized that he’s really tall, and he has the cutest eye-smiles she ever seen. The kind of eye-smiles that made him seemed harmless.

Little did she know, that those killer-eye-smiles could let her guard down...

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Comments anyone? Please? *flashing Minhyuk's eye-smiles and Krystal's cute-pouts*


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Still own nothing. As much as I want this story to be real, even if it was based on some real events that I've seen in pictures, this is still a fiction.**

***

She threw the pink-covered book to her bed for the nth times. Mumbling the sentences she just read, she scrutinized every detail of her expressions in front of the mirror. Her eyes needed to show more anger, but it meant that she would have to wrinkle her forehead even more. _Andwae_ , she needed to find some other way so that she wouldn’t looked older. She tried every methods she could ever think of; scrunched her nose, pouted her lips, raised her eyebrows, stomped her feet... _God, how hard this could be?_

She retrieved the script from her bed with a slight thump on her steps. She read her next lines and suddenly felt more frustrated. She threw herself to the bed then started whining like a little kid, rolling her body on the bed.

“ _Ottokeeee...???_ ”

She was now staring at her phone screen, her thumb hovering on top of the number that was displayed. _Minhyuk oppa_.Fortunately, she managed to exchanged their numbers on the day of the first script reading. She knew she needed his favour, she needed to practiced her acting with him, and worked on their chemistry. She had tried to practice her script with her sister, it helped a bit, but it wasn’t enough. Sica _unnie_ had encouraged her to just call him, telling her that he must be thinking the same way—they’re playing as a couple for God’s sake—but why oh why did she had to make the first move?

She scolded herself for being such a shy girl. She took a deep breath and huffed them out, closing her eyes, she finally pressed the dial button.

First dial tone.

Second dial tone.

_Why didn’t he pick up his phone?_

Third dial tone.

She swore to herself if he didn’t answer by the next tone, she would hang up.

But even as she heard the last dial tone and directed to the voice message, he didn’t answer her call. She tried to deny the slight pang that came out of nowhere in her chest, feeling a bit dejected. She was assuring herself that he might be busy so she called him about 3 more times without any difference. She stared at her phone screen for a few minutes, hoping that his name would be blinking rapidly miracolously, as if he would call her back.

She didn’t remember she had fallen asleep while clutching her phone.

The next thing she knew, she woke up with a startle.

It was Kang Minhyuk, calling her at 11.06 pm.

“ _Youbuseyo_...” she answered him with a sleepy voice.

“Oh, did I wake you up? I’m sorry... Just go back to sleep, I’ll call you in the morning—“

“—wait, _Oppa_ ~~~” she cut him off immediately, “I’ve been waiting for your call all night, and you’re just going to hang up? What was that...”

She could hear his laugh over the phone. Seriously, how could he still laughing at this time of the night?

“ _Oppa_ , what time is it? Why did you just call me now?”

He laughed again, “I’m sorry, Krystal- _ssi_... I was just done rehearsing with my band so I didn’t hear your calls. Are you mad?”

“ _Aniya_...” was her answer, she did feel a bit peeved, but he didn’t need to know that. He must be really tired, “I’m the one who should say sorry for disrupting your rehearsal. Aren’t you tired? Maybe I should just call you back tomorrow...”

“ _Yah,_ are you trying to prank call me?” he scolded her, still laughing, “You’re the one who told me not to hang up, now you’re trying to hang up on me? Just tell me what is it, Krystal- _ssi_... You’re making me curious I couldn’t even sleep.”

She pouted her lips, hiding her smile even though he couldn’t see her. “It’s not really important... I was just wanted to ask you...” she hesitated, “...if you would practice our script together. _If_ you’re not busy...”

There was a long pause. She didn’t know what he was doing, but he’s making her nervous. “ _Oppa?_ Are you still there?”

“ _Oh_. Krystal- _ssi_... I’m really really sorry, but these days I’ll be very busy. Even if I would have time, it would be late at night, and I don’t think it would be safe for you. Is it okay if we practiced over the phone? I’ll let you know once I’ve done with my schedule, what do you say?”

Krystal hid her disappointed sigh after hearing his answer. She knew it. Somehow. His band was so busy this year, she wondered how he was going to manage his performances with the filming schedule. She could only hope it didn’t make their acting looked awkward on screen.

“It’s alright, _oppa_ ,” she finally said, “But don’t push yourself if you’re really tired. I’ll be very guilty...”

“ _Ara_ ,” he chuckled then suggested, “Maybe we could practice the morning before the filming? I’ll come to the set early...”

She didn’t realize that a smile immediately formed on her lips, “ _Jinjja?_ You promised?”

She could already hear his laugh right after her question, “I promised. So, I’ll call you tomorrow night, Krystal- _ssi_?”

“Hm,” she hummed her confirmation, “But _oppa_ , you can just call me Soojung, you know? I’d be more comfortable when people call me by my real name...”

“Is that so?” She confirmed her answer again, “Then... can I call you Soojungie?”

She was very startled by his sudden request. It wasn’t that she was against the idea of they’re calling each other pet names, it was just they weren’t that close. They’re just met and really talked to each other once! But then, he was probably just teasing her...

“Krystal- _ssi_... are you there? It’s okay if you don’t like it—“

“ _Ani_ ~! It’s okay, really. _Oppa_ , don’t call me Krystal- _ssi_ anymore, okay? It sounded awkward.”

“ _Geude_?”

“ _Oh_ ,” she nodded, “ _Oppa_ , aren’t you sleepy? You sounded really tired...”

“Is that so?” even in his state, he still could laugh, “ _Geude_. Good night, Soojungie... Dream of me, okay?”

“ _Oppa_ ~!” she could hear him laugh out loud before she bid him goodnight. How can he still have the energy to tease her, seriously?

That night, she was sleeping with a slight blush on her cheeks, dreaming about a guy who had a smiling eyes and the sound of his laugh as her lullaby...

 

***

You have received message(s).

 

Minhyuk unlocked his phone. A smile instantly curved on his lips as he read who was sending him the message.

 

**Soojungie**

_Oppa_

Where are you?

 

**Minhyuk _oppa_**

I’m in the changing room

Did you just arrive?

 

Her reply was just a second away. The smile on his face turned into a low chuckle. He could already imagine her frown as he read her texts.

 

**Soojungie**

Why were you in the changing room?

You promised me to meet in the cafe

_Oh my God!_

Did they moved up the filming?

But we haven’t even practice!

 

It was a few days ago when she called him right in the middle of his practice with his band. His band made some kind of rules that they need to put their phones away during rehearsal. Based on past experiences, one phone call could ruined hours of hardwork. Besides, it broke everyone else’s concentration and moods just in a split second. In case of emergency, they told anyone who mattered to call their manager instead. 

That’s why he didn’t know that Soojung had called him, not until he and his band had done practicing. Yes, she managed to get his number within the first few hours of their interaction, and yes, it was her who asked him first. He rememberred how she was giving him her puppy eyes while turning her body right and left. She was shy, he knew it, but she was doing _aegyo_ without even realizing it. He simply couldn’t resist such excessive cuteness.

Well, who could?

So he came early this morning to the set, watching the crew prepared everything for the filming today. He was just about to reply her text when suddenly the girl was calling out his name.

Did he ever say how fast and energetic this girl is?

“ _Oppa!_ ”

There was a little jump on her steps as she saw him. He turned around, couldn’t contain his laugh at how happy she looked just by seeing him.

“Oh!” she stopped right in front of him, then scrutinizing him in amazement. “ _Oppa_ , did you cut your hair?”

He grinned, nodded at her question. “ _Oh_. The director told me to came earlier for this. So, what do you think?” he bent his head closer to her, showing her his new look.

He noticed a slight flush on her cheeks, as she admitted, “You look great, _oppa_ ,” and he smiled a little more. Oh... how he loves teasing her. She was like his very own entertainment. Those nights when they have practiced together by phone, he could imagined her reaction every single time he teased her. No matter how tired he was, somehow the weariness just faded away as he heard her cheerful voice. And now seeing her reaction directly was totally epic.

“I think you really should keep this hair style, _oppa_. It suits you very well,” she added with more confidence.

“ _Aigoo_ ~~~” out of a sudden, his hand moved by itself to ruffle her hair. He was enjoying it when he realized what was he doing. It was an awkward moment as his hand frozen on her head and stopped ruffling her hair and she stared at him with a very surprised look. He tried to keep it cool and safe himself from humiliation. He coughed a little, before trying to make some kind of joke about it, “Don’t look so surprise, Soojungie. I was just having a head start of our practice. Did I make your head ache?” he patted her head softly, then put his hand back to his side as she shook her head no.

 _Smooth, Kang Minhyuk, very smooth,_ he cursed at himself for losing control. He prayed that it didn’t make her think that he was a weird person, or worse, making her stay away from him. That would be a disaster.

“ _Oppa_ ,” her voice waking him out of his reverie. He didn’t expect her to talk to him after that, but he felt so relief that she did. “Next time, warn me first before you do something like that. And can you do that more softly? You make my hair look like a mess...”

He was struggling not to burst out laughing hearing her request. Here he was, nervous that she would mad at him for his impolite action, but all she care about was her look. This girl sure full of surprises. And make him did things that he would never even dare thought to do so. If it was any other girl, he probably would whispering apologies endlessly. But he was surprising himself as he once again ruffling her hair _now_ fully conscious, “Like this?”

“ _Oppa~!_ ”

He was satisfied with her reaction, less startled, more annoyed. It was better than awkward. “Get used to it,” he ruffled her hair some more, “I’m most likely make a habit of it,” and grinned when he saw her pouted.

*** 

As promised, they had a few hours of practicing. They found a comfortable couch and sit there side by side, asking for each other opinions. She was amazed at how calm and composed he was with handling her. Sica _unnie_ got frustrated within a few minutes of helping her—mostly because her sister is a true woman and Soojung keep on telling her to act more manly—but here he was, laughing and smiling all the time even when she was complaining like a brat.

“ _Oppa_ , are you sure it’s okay if I do this?” she asked when they practiced the scene where she needed to cover his mouth, “What if I accidentally hit your nose?”

As usual, his reaction was only some other variations of smiling and laughing: chuckle. It was slowly getting on her nerves. What was so funny? She’s asking him seriously!

“Soojungie, you can do anything that you’re comfortable with as long as you’re not hurting me…”

And how come she would knew if she was hurting him or not?!

_That’s why I’m asking you, Minhyuk oppa! Aisshh~~_

This was an absolute torture for her.

Not to mention that her heart couldn’t stop beating rapidly since she saw him this morning—who knew that he would be so drop-dead gorgeous with just a slight haircut—she wasn’t prepared for it. At the first script reading she didn’t thought that he was a danger to her heart—yes he is freakishly tall, surprisingly kind, and had a very attractive eye-smile—but now added with some fresh look and a lot of teasing from his part, don’t even remind her about that ruffling hair scene, this practice had officially felt like a marathon for her. She didn’t know what to do, her face felt hot due to countless times of blushing here and there, and her head’s dizzy everytime he laughed.

 _Keep yourself together, Jung Soojung. Keep yourself together_.

She was about to take her bottle of mineral water on the table in front of them, whenhe propped up his chin on his hand, asking her in a made up serious tone, “That make me wondering… Soojungie, have you ever had a boyfriend before?”

That successfully made her frozen. Her hand was stopping in mid-air as she heard his question. She blinked a few times as if she had forgotten what was she was about to do. Slowly, she turned her eyes to Minhyuk who was staring at him curiously. She could see him hold his laugh as he saw her turned her eyes away and blushing.Again.

_Is this guy for real?!_

“ _Oppa_... why are you asking that?” she said, now fidgeting with her hands, her eyes casted down to her lap.

“I was just curious,” he lifted his shoulders, “Some past experiences could give us some advantages of what’d you like by being a couple. I, personally, like holding hands. What about you? What do you like to do with your boyfriend?”

“I...” she still couldn’t look him in the eyes, too embarrassed to even lifted her head up, “I’ve never had a boyfriend before.”

“ _What?_ ”

She was fanning her face with both of her hands, then patted her cheeks while breathing in and out slowly. She wished someone just shoot her in the head right now rather than having to answer that kind of question.

Where were those haters when she needed them the most?

“You’re kidding, right?” Minhyuk asked her again, looking at her intently to see if she was telling him lies by any chances, “Don’t tell me no one had ever asked you out before. You’re too pretty to be left unnoticed,” he said sincerely.

Biting her lips, she glanced at him hesitantly, “But it’s true…”

He snorted in absolute disbelief, “ _Tsk, tsk, tsk. Daebak_. How come?”

She shrugged, “Sica _unnie_ said that I was too young…”

He looked at her sternly, “You’re almost 20. Everyone else’s probably dating since they were 15. Look at Lee Bona. She was only in High School but she got 2 boyfriends already.”

“Then what about you, _oppa_?” she fired back, surprising him and herself at once, “How many girlfriends did you have? It’s not like they’re matter anyway. You don’t have to have any experiences as a couple to act like one. Besides, I’ve known a lot of _unnies_ who had never dating anyone until they’re past 20’s and they were all just fine.”

She was about to say something more when she suddenly covered her mouth and transformed back to the shy girl just a few minutes earlier. “I’m sorry, _oppa_ ,” she bowed to him awkwardly, “I didn’t mean to rattle on you like that, it’s just that—“

But Minhyuk was totally burst out laughing at her behavior. Hard. Like absolutely amused he was clutching his stomach while his other hand beating his own thigh repeatedly. He even shook his head and shed some tears out of the corner of his eyes. He had a hard time to catch his breath, only to laugh again as he saw her pouted miserably at him, “Soojungie… You should see your face. It was so funny—I can’t—“

“Glad I can amuse you…” she said with scornful face.

“ _Aisshh_ … don’t be mad,” he ruffled her hair once again, only to have her glaring at him. Yes, she was really mad. “Alright. Fine. I’ll stop laughing. C’mon, you can’t stay mad at me forever. Give me a smile… Hm?”

He was giving her his killer eye-smile that she swore no one could ever resist.

_Damn it, oppa! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?_

In seconds, she was holding her smile by biting her lips. She wasn’t going to give up so easily, but seriously, she couldn’t be mad at him anymore. She was pathetic.

A few minutes later, Park Shin Hye came and joined the two of them. They were rehearsing together for their scene in the café, and it wasn’t long when Shin Hye commented, “Have both of you worked on your chemistry? I know it is hard to be all lovey-dovey on your first scene, but you need to at least be more comfortable with each other. You came early for this, right?”

Krystal could only stare on her lap while Minhyuk glanced at her with the corner of his eyes, hiding his knowing smile. Shin Hye watched the two of them with curiosity and asked, “What happened? Is something wrong?” Shin Hye then looked at Minhyuk, whispering ‘what did you do?’ at him sternly.

Minhyuk hold up his hands in defense, “ _Aniya, noona_. I didn’t do anything. It was just—“

“It wasn’t his fault, _unnie_ …” Krystal came to his rescue, despite the fact that she did want to blame him so much, “Minhyuk _oppa_ tried to work on it really hard, I think I just wasn’t ready yet, and it is kind of embarrassing so…”

But Shin Hye knew better than to believe her, she squinted her eyes at Minhyuk, “ _Aigoo_ , you don’t have to impersonate Lee Bona by defending your boyfriend all the time, Krystal- _ssi_. Sometimes boys like him need to have a taste of their own action.” Shin Hye now looking at Krystal with mischievous eyes, “How about I tell you some embarrassing moments of Minhyukkie on our previous drama?”

“ _Noona~!_ ”

Shin Hye ignored him while she was persuading Krystal who looked absolutely brighten with her suggestion.

“Yes, _unnie_! Please tell me!” Krystal exclaimed happily, then glanced at defeated Minhyuk only to sticking out her tounge at him playfully.

The girls now talked and laughed happily like some kind of best friend. Once in a while, Minhyuk joined in to get the story straight, but none of the girls care. By the time the director told them to get ready and change their outfit for the filming, Krystal’s mood had never been better since she got the role. _Shin Hye unnie is the best_ , she thought earnestly.

***

The filming went surprisingly well for now. Minhyuk was kind of worried with Soojung’s performance, but as soon as the camera’s rolled, she was actually not that bad. He was now sitting at one of the seat inside of MangoSix, while she was outside of the cafe getting some more directions from the director. She looked simply stunning with her over the top white sweater and black miniskirt—which was _really_ short—showing off her long-white-smooth legs. He was wearing a matching outfit with her, a white button down shirt with simple black pants, which was according to her, high-lighting his slender and tall figure.

“You might want to keep your eyes off of her before someone caught you staring, Minhyukkie...”

Park Shin Hye giggled at his startled face. She smiled knowingly as Minhyuk reddened but still playing it cool. “Be careful, Minhyukkie, or you might getting into some scandal if you keep on doing that,” she warned her playfully.

“ _Ani..._ ” Minhyuk denied it quickly, “It’s just she was so cute, I couldn’t help to think of her as a little sister,” he said, trying to give some reason on his behaviour.

Shin Hye snickered at him, “For now,” she teased him, “But I know that look. Sooner or later you’ll realize that you’re only trying to fool yourself. Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.”

Minhyuk chuckled at her statement, “We’ll see, _noona_.”

At the time, the director called him out for filming outside of the cafe. He bowed to Shin Hye and rushed to the door, approaching the director and a smiling Krystal. Once they’re on the sidewalk, right beneath the sun light, Shin Hye saw him put his green jacket over her head to protect her from the sun.

Shin Hye sighed. Slowly but sure, he was falling hard, and he didn’t even realise it. Yet.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm back! Sorry for the late update, a busy week turned out to be a busy month. Not to mention that I've starting this one over and over again, I even had thought to split it in two chapters, but then I'll probably need another week to finish it off, so I decided a longer chapter won't hurt anyone right? Hehe, who loves a devilish Minhyuk here? Well I've always thought that behind that innocent smile, hidden some really really devious mind.... >.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Still own nothing. This is just a work of my delusional mind.**

***

It’s been almost a month.

Well, to be exact, it’s been 3 weeks, 2 days, 18 hours, 42 minutes, and 28 seconds since she last saw him.

It’s not like she was counting down the days anyway, but life’s had been absolutely cruel to her.

Her boyfriend was a thousand miles away from her, separated by oceans and continents, in a place which was ironically was her birth country. He’d been there for 2 weeks already, not to mention that he was busy with his Blue Moon concert a week before that, and she was here, in her room, with nothing to do.

It’s amazing how fast they got closer to each other in just 1 scene, and only after a few hours of actually meeting him in person. Fortunately, their phone conversations didn’t end up there, but it had been less frequent since they didn’t have any scene together until he came back to Seoul.

She should have went there with him. Initially there should be a few scenes of Yoon Chanyoung and Lee Bona in LA, but the production team—and her management—suddenly  had change of plans and decided to left her here alone in Seoul. She would be lying if she said she didn’t feel devastated. She had been anticipating to be back to her birth country since they said they would be filming there. She even had planned to take the whole crew and casts for a tour around the city. Minhyuk _oppa_ had also made her promised to accompany him to watch some baseball games there.

And all of those dreams crushed cruelly just like that.

She rememberred how she was literally crying and whining to Minhyuk _oppa_ until past midnight through the phone as soon as she heard the news. He was just done with his concert in Guangzhou and she knew that he must be so tired he didn’t have the energy to listen to her, but he did anyways. She was asking if she should catch a ticket on her own—and he almost encouraged her to do so—but after contemplating how her management and her family would absolutely worried sick about her, he successfully persuaded her to cancel her intention. She knew he just didn’t want to get the blame on him. But in exchange, she managed to make him promised to bring her some souvenirs.

She was acting as if he was her real boyfriend, but she thought that’s how it was supposed to be. That’s what they called what, method acting, right?

_God, did she just make excuses to call him as her boyfriend??_

After their first scene together and before the whole crew went to LA, Soojung had done filming a few scenes with Hyungsik _oppa_ , Woobin _oppa_ , and Ha Neul _oppa_. Woobin _oppa_ surprisingly loved to joke around, complaining why he was stuck with Hyungsik _oppa_ while there were so many pretty girls around. But Soojung felt more comfortable with Hyungsik _oppa_ , not only because he was so funny, but more because Woobin _oppa_ had this intimidating look that she was kinda scared of.

They were all really nice to her, and had the tendency to tease her all day long, just like everybody elses. She was so used to it, having a lot of _oppas_ in her management did her that. She couldn’t even thought about being romantically involved with any of them because it would be awkward. Usually she was so good at drawing the lines between her and those _oppas_ , it was almost like she had this kind of alarm in her mind everytime someone crossed that lines. That’s when she transformed into an ice princess.

But it was not working that well with Minhyuk _oppa_.

She admitted that she was kinda missing him. There’s something about him that’s somehow addicting. His smile was intoxicating. His encouraging words made her feel confident. Even his teases frustrated her to no end. And his touch— _God_ —made her whole body burned. And they haven’t did anything other than linking on each other arms. She couldn’t even stop herself from blushing just by imagining if they would have a hugging scene or worse, kissing scene.

The sound of her phone ringing woke her up from her delusional mind. She jumped to reach her phone, expecting his name appeared on her screen. They were already making a habit of calling each other this late, both because he was usually so busy and now because the time difference between Seoul and LA.

With a cheerful voice, she greeted him, “ _Oppa~~~_ ”

“Eyy... looks like someone’s had been missing me so much,” his laugh then turned into concern as he rememberred what time it was in Seoul, “Haven’t you been sleeping? How come you’re still sounded so energetic?”

“ _Aiish~_ ” Soojung curled her lips in annoyance, “Would you rather I didn’t pick up your phone? Didn’t you miss me at all? Or... ah, I know... you’re too busy playing dates with Shin Hye _unnie_ that you’re forgetting me already, aren’t you?”

Minhyuk chuckled at her rant, “Is this Soojungie or Lee Bona whom I talking to? You sounded exactly like a jealous girlfriend...”

“ _Yah_. Lee Bona won’t last a day without hearing Chanyoung’s voice. How come you let me hanged up without any traces for almost a week?? If I were your girlfriend, you’ll be dead by now!”

“Woahh _uri Soojungie_ was really mad, _mianhae...oh?_ ” he apologized immediately. She didn’t know if he catch her double meaning—she didn’t deny that she was jealous, but she’s using Lee Bona to cover up—but since he played along, she decided to continue with this girlfriend ‘act’.

“I won’t forgive you unless... you brought me some gifts.”

“ _Ara..._ And here I thought that you’re really missing me, guess that I was lost by a couple of gifts. You make my heart break, Soojungie...”

Soojung giggled. He loved to flirt openly with her, totally on purpose. If it was any other guy, she would probably had been running to the other side. But for some reasons, she let him be. She dismissed the possibility that he was doing it to get closer to her personally, but strictly for professional reason.

“ _Oppa_ , how’s filming?”

“It went well. Actually, I’d just finished my scenes today, so I would be back tomorrow.”

“ _Jinjja_?” Soojung sat up straight, didn’t even hide her excitement. “I thought you’ll be there for a few more days.”

“ _Oh_. But since I’d have a concert in Shanghai by the end of the month, I need to go back early. So—“

“— _aaahhh_ ,” she slumped back in her bed, “So that’s why. _Oppa_ , you really are busy, aren’t you?”

“Don’t sound so disappointed, Soojungie. Do you really miss me that much?”

 _There he goes again_ , she rolled her eyes at his confidence, “If you say something like that one more time, I’ll hang up.” Minhyuk laughed at her threat, completely think that it was very adorable of her. But Soojung change the topic before he teased her again. “ _Oppa_ , you do know that Heechul _oppa_ will be there on our next filming, right?”

“ _Oh_ , I’ve heard about that. _Wae_?”

Shrugging her shoulders, she quickly replied “Nothing. It’s a relieved that it wasn’t Kyuhyun _oppa_. _Aiishh_... He was the biggest prank ever. I would’ve never hear the end of it especially if he saw us hu—”

She shut her mouth up abruptly as soon as she realized what she was about to say. But it’s too late.

“ _Wae_?” Minhyuk caught her on the spot. She cursed herself for being so reckless. If there is one thing that she knew about Minhyuk _oppa_ , it’s that he was a very meticulous person. He would notice every little detail that most people would ignore. “What’s with you? Why are you so ashamed just by saying that we’re going to hug each other? If you’re going to be like this, I think we will need a _lot_ of practice before—“

“ _Oppa~!_ ” She bet her whole face turned bitt red by now, thanked God he wasn’t here to see it. She buried her face on the pillow, mumbling, “How can you say things like that so frankly?!”

“What? I can’t hear you—“

“I’ll hang up!”

“ _Yah_! I’m not finish ye—“

But she already pressed the red button and threw her phone away like it was infectious. Now, she absolutely didn’t have the face to meet him again. No. He was going to brought that up and she was too embarrassed to talk about it.

He must be having a fit of laughter right now. _Aiishh... jinjja..._

***

It was the press conference day and she was trying to avoid him all day. He was watching her with that glint in his eyes, trying to get closer to her every chance he got. But she was quick, using Park Shin Hye and Kim Jiwon as her shield, and everyone elses at her sides to keep her distance away with him. She even managed to get a seat right on the opposite side of him.

It was like they’re playing cat and mouse.

But he was enjoying it.

She caught him throwing some knowing smiles at her, making her squirmed on her seat all the time. Park Hyungsik, who sat on her left side, trying to make some small talks with her, but Minhyuk knew she didn’t pay attention to him. She was busy fixing her miniskirt—and yes, he noticed that she loved wearing those skirts, especially that time when they were taking pictures for the official posters, where she wore that white minidress and it’s length barely reached her midthigh, it was almost driving him crazy—but she looked very uncomfortable with it. Well that, or him. He smirked.

He let her be, for now. He knew it wouldn’t be that long before he finally caught her. And he would have a feast on teasing her.

A few minutes later, his name was called to the stage and he was introduced as Yoon Chanyoung. Not long after that, Shin Hye _noona_ was called to join him on the stage and they were posing very friendly as usual. He considered Shin Hye _noona_ as his own sister, she had that same doting personality that his real sister had. And he knew that Shin Hye _noona_ also thought of him as her little brother. So he didn’t think it was a problem when she was linking her arms to him and joking around with her in front of the media.

It wasn’t, until the host called Krystal’s name to join him and replacing Shin Hye _noona_. He was smiling thinking that the time had finally come, he had prepared every words that she was going to say to her on his mind, until he saw that she had that pissed off look on her face. She faked a smile as soon as the camera lights hit her face, looking straight at him. Gone was the shy girl just a moment ago.

He wondered what did he done wrong in that short amount of time.

He also didn’t expect her to grabbed his arm and linking her arms around it possessively and pull her body closer to him.

Too close, he thought. Too close he could feel her body warmth creeping from his arm straight to his heart.

He was under her spell. She was literally controlling him to move that way by pressing his side and this way by pulling his arm.

He tried to ask her what happened, but she hid her face behind her hair, never looking at him even once.

And it was all over so fast. In no time she let his arm go and scrambled off of the stage.

That day, he was trying to get some explanation from her, but the timing was never right. Not on the next photoshoot where all the cast were on the stage and he got to stand right beside her, neither when they were shooting for TV promo where he sat right beside her again, nor at the interview session. Too many cameras and too many people around them. As the day past by, he knew he probably need to let this one go and asked her later when he would meet her again.

 _If_ she wasn’t that mad at him anymore.

***

He called her for the nth times. She still wouldn’t asnwer it. He sighed. _Girls_. How long was she going to be like this? They were about to filming in a minute, and he still hadn’t seen her. How are they going to be a lovey-dovey couple who missed each other like crazy if she wasn’t even talking to him?

Heechul _hyung_ approached him and sat beside him on the audience seat. “Minhyukkie, have you seen Soojungie? I came here with her, but I haven’t seen her since then.”

“Neither do I,” was Minhyuk reply, “In fact, I didn’t know that she was here already.”

That made Heechul stared at him like he was weird, “You’re her boyfriend. How come you didn’t know where your girlfriend is?”

Minhyuk stared at his phone again, feeling kind of defeated. “I don’t know. I think she was kind of mad at me, but it’s been weeks,” he turned his eyes to Heechul, asking, “Is she usually like this? Cheerful and cute at once, and turned that cold the next?”

Heechul blinked a few times before asking him back, “Are we really talking about the same Soojung? Jung Soojung a.k.a f(x)’s Krystal, right?”

“ _Hyung_...” he pleaded. How many girls with the same name that he knew, really?

“Woahh...” Heechul patted Minhyuk’s shoulder in sympathy, “What have you done, Minhyukkie? Our Soojung wasn’t actually a person who gets mad that easily, I actually never saw her get mad at her _oppas_. But, she did get shy very quickly, that’s why we loved to tease her as much as we can...“

“But that’s exactly what I’ve done!” Minhyuk exclaimed, “I teased her mercilessly and I think that’s why she won’t even answer my calls...”

Heechul raised his brows, “Just give her some time. She probably just being shy. All of her life she’d only known how to be friends with the guys, not to be romantically involved with them. _Unless_...” the sudden pause made Minhyuk looked at the older guy who he’d respected so much, and Heechul looked back at him with a stern look, “...unless she has a feeling for you.”

It was like he was struck by lightning on a daylight. It took a few minutes for him to process what Heechul had said, while the other guy trying to see some reaction from him right past through his eyes. The younger guy gulped, and Heechul got his answer.

“I knew it,” Heechul nudged him on the elbow, “You like her.”

“ _Hyung_...”

“Now I need to see how she interacted with you to see if the feeling is mutual.”

“ _Hyung_...” Minhyuk turned his head down in a desperate way to convince him, “It’s not like that—“

“Uh-uh!” Heechul pointed his finger at him, a sign for him to shut his mouth, “Don’t even bother to deny it. It was all over your face. And don’t give me that look!” he said as Minhyuk gave him some puppy eyes, “And just because you’re acting as her boyfriend right now, don’t even think that you can take advantage of her. You understand?”

“I told you, _hyung_ , I’m not—“

Heechul ignored him completely, patted his shoulder with a sympathetic look, “Don’t get into any scandal, okay? She didn’t need more haters than she already had right now...” and he fled away from him.

_What’s wrong with these people? Why did everyone think that he likes her?_

It wasn’t that he didn’t like her, but he didn’t think that he like her that way. Yes, she made him laugh, she was cute like that, and yes, he liked to hang around with her and he wanted to have a girlfriend just like her, but that didn’t mean that he likes her, right?

 _Right_?

He didn’t have more time to think about it any further as the director told him to get ready for their first take. The director also told him that he had met Soojung and she told him that she didn’t want to met him first so that her expression would came out more natural.

So the filming began. He sat there, watching her entering the stage with that bright smile of hers. He wondered if it wasn’t for the sake of the filming, would she smile like that as she saw him? He saw her acting all cute with Heechul _hyung_ , thinking that she also used to act like that in front of him. _God, he missed her_. But she acted the same to all of the _oppas_ , there’s no way that she might like him, right?

He was texting her just as the script told him. He waved his hand as she finally met his eyes. His lips immediately formed a smile as he saw how happy she looked. His happy thoughts turned into a sad one when she yelled “ _Chanyoung-a~~~_ ” from the top of her lungs.

How he would’ve give anything to hear her calling his real name with that look.

She was running up the stairs to his seat eagerly with that miniskirt—again—he was really worried that she might tripped. He rose up from his seat to approach her, “ _Yah,_ you’ll get hurt.”

He was just about to stand straight facing her, when she hugged him abruptly.

“I missed you~~~!” she said with her face buried in his chest, tightened her hold on him.

He swore that at that exact moment, his heart had turned into butterflies.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: What's wrong with AO3? The option to edit chapter with rich text had completely gone! I can't edit my chapter with Bolds and Italics. God, this is frustrating!
> 
> Anyways, I've posted this story on asianfanfics.com under the same ID and title. So if you wanted to see the fully edited chapter, please feel free to go there. I really hope it didn't bother your pleasure as a reader. Thanks!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Umm...what else?**  

***

_Heaven_.

 

Soojung knew she loved being hugged, but she never expected that it would feel incredibly nice. She could feel the hard planes of his chest with her cheek, taking a whiff of his unsurprising soothing scent which she already knew by the few times he had his arms wrapped around her, and the way his tall figure engulfed her whole body just the right way that she could barely lean her head on his shoulder, and she could feel his warm breath tickling her ear. Their bodies just fit together perfectly.

She felt somehow abashed at how bold her action was, but she was too giddy to actually care. This was practically the best feeling she ever had for a very long time, so she tightened her hold on him around his waist half-unconsciously. _God, she missed him_.

Trying to avoid him by any means while she barely held the urge to answer his calls had been proven to be a very difficult task. She’s still couldn’t get over about their last conversation, all the while trying to suppress the growing feeling that she knew was eating her inside out. She reminded herself over and over again that they were just acting, that she had to get into a comfortable zone with him but not close enough to crash her down when this bubble of happiness popped out. She wanted that kind of relationship like him and Park Shin Hye had: easy.

But these sparks that came out of nowhere insisted to ignite in every single moments they’ve shared, had complicated things.

It’s confusing, these whirlwind of emotions make her head spinning round and round she didn’t know what to do anymore.

Is it okay to let her feelings out for everyone to see? Is it okay if she just let it flow as it is and see where it’s leading her to? Or should she take a step back, taking control of everything like she usually did?

She had read his messages and endless attempt of calls from him these past weeks, asking her what’s wrong, if they would rehearse their script together like always, if she’s alright, if she’s mad at him. To be honest, she didn’t know the answer herself. This is the first time she ever felt like this: the constant happiness, the embarrassment, the jealousy, the uncertainty, and the fear of the probability that she might like him.

To put it simply: she was scared shitless.

Being an idol and being in a relationship _with_ another idol wasn’t something that should be put together in one sentence. People these days considering it equally as a disaster or suicidal. The companies had strictly prohibited any kind of improper interaction between opposite gender, the business industry would deemed them as unprofessional, the endless media interfering, and the worst part would be: the angry fans.

She was still kinda traumatic with the scandal she’d been caught up in between her and G-Dragon not so long ago. She had an incredulous various attempt of threats and harsh words from those fans _over_ a single Instagram account. The most ridiculous part was she didn’t even know him—yes, he’s a big idol from another company, and yes she loved his songs and they’ve met a couple of times in music shows just like how she met with everybody else’s (duh!)—but the blatant threats had never ceased. She was crying herself night after night knowing that there’s nothing that neither she nor her company could do, trying to explain things would be like throwing oil into the fire. Not to mention that it was totally unfair that his fans were taking it out all on her while the one who did any action was him. It was understandable that he kept his silence to save his own ass—he’d never even sent her an apology in any kind of means—but still, she hated him for it.

And she could put a guarantee that it was exactly what would happen if she ever dated anyone in her life.

And she knew she wasn’t strong enough to face that kind of hell all over again.

So she took a deep breath, inhaling as much of his smell as she could get to be engraved in her brain, finally loosening her death grip on his waist, staring up at his face with her chin tucked at his chest. She didn’t calculate at how close their faces were, especially with him gently gazing down at her, making their lips almost touched that she startled herself.

The silence was deafening and she knew her heart skipped a beat right then and there.

And suddenly he laughed.

She blinked a few times to assess what the hell was going on as everyone around them laugh along with him.

He bent his head over her shoulders, his arms wrapped around her and enveloping her whole body like a blanket. She could feel the rambling of his chest against her body and the combination of it with his gasping for air on her neck, sent shivers down on every nerve on her end. Her head started to feel dizzy at the overwhelming of sensory overload.

Her knees gone weak and she thought she would collapse if it wasn’t for him who holding her body so tight. She wished she could stop the time at that moment or died happy in his embrace. She really wouldn’t mind.

Sooner than later, his laughter died down as he moved his hands to her shoulders, putting some distance between them. She couldn’t decide if she should feel relieved or disappointed for that, but he was looking down at her with that smile of his, so it was okay.

“ _Wae~~~_?” she sulked like a spoilt princess, “Why everyone’s laughing at me?”

The grin that was plastered forever on his mouth getting even wider, and she knew he was about to laugh again, “I’m sorry. You caught me off guard I couldn’t remember a single word to say.”

She pouted. She thought that they could pull this hugging scene in one take just to spare her heart, but it wasn’t meant to be. The director told them to start over right from the hugging scene. The second time over, he said that he couldn’t hear her lines if she buried her face in his chest. Third time, forth time, fifth time, it still didn’t work out well and he told them to exchange their lines first before Minhyuk _oppa_ pulled her into his arms.

“And cut! Good job everyone!” Everyone’s clapped their hands as the director finally satisfied with the result. He told them to get ready to move their location to the studio for their next scene.

Both Soojung and Minhyuk bowed politely to the director and the crew, then at each other. They forgot that Heechul was still there with them, when he approached them up at the stairs and reminded them of his existence.

Heechul folded his arms on his chest, shaking his head as he saw Soojung’s arm still wrapped around Minhyuk’s waist despite that the filming was over. “Tsk, tsk, tsk... _yah Soojungie_! I heard you weren’t talking to him at the moment, but why did you act like a real couple just now?”

Soojung stared at Heechul _oppa_ with confusion written all over her face. Heechul then pointing out at her arms with a glare in his eyes, and Soojung abruptly released her arms from Minhyuk as she followed Heechul’s line of sight.

Minhyuk chuckled at the unfolding scene in front of him; it was expected to see Heechul looking out for Soojung a protective older brother. Everyone always regarded him with that kind of respect.

“And here I thought that Minhyukkie here was taking advantage of you, while the truth is it was the other way around. I’ve never saw it in you, Soojungie...” he scolded her some more, making her bowed her head down in embarrassment.

“ _Hyung_ ,” Minhyuk spoke out in amusement, “Don’t be so hard on her. She was doing a great job at being my girlfriend, you should support her more.”

That made him received a death glare from Heechul as Soojung cowered more and hid her face behind her hand. Minhyuk burst out in laughter with their reactions.

“And you’re enjoying it too much, Minhyukkie...” Heechul added a slight annoyance in his tone, but Minhyuk ignored it.

“Don’t worry, _hyung_ ,” Minhyuk said confidently, “ _Uri_ Soojungie is safe with me. You should give me more credit than that,” he continued, feigning a slight disappointment.

“ _Ara_ ,” Heechul quipped back, then mumbled in a low tone that no one could hear, “It’s not you whom I was worried about. It’s her.”

“ _Ne?_ ” Minhyuk looking at him and Soojung back and forth, trying to catch what he had said but failed.

“Nothing.” Heechul’s eyes soften for a moment, assessing the cute couple in front of him. He knew that Minhyuk is a decent guy, and if there’s any guy that he would trust her with, it was him. But Minhyuk didn’t know her, he didn’t know what she’s been going through, and Heechul knew that she’s just wasn’t ready for any kind of relationship at the moment. Being the youngest member in their company, Soojung automatically being everyone’s favorite _maknae_. Every single one of them was very protective of her, and her cute-princess-like behavior didn’t help her either. But if this is continued, he’s afraid that it would break her already fragile heart. He could only hope that both of them were smart enough to put a stop on this before everything’s gotten out of hand.

Heechul sighed, shifting his sight to Soojung, “It’s time for me to go. I’ll call your manager to send you off to the next location, okay?”

“I can take her, _hyung_ ,” Minhyuk offered, shrugging nonchalantly. “I’ve borrowed Yong’s _hyung_ car today. I can even send her home just in case if it’s getting really late.”

Heechul hesitated, considering the good and the bad possibility of Minhyuk’s suggestion. He needed to be careful of giving some sort of approval for Soojung’s sake, only to be reminded that it wasn’t his decision at all. He then looked at Soojung, “Are you okay with that, Soojung-ah?”

“Hm,” Soojung nodded, eyes looking back at Heechul to convince him that she’s really alright.

“ _Geude_ ,” Heechul then shifted his sight to Minhyuk, “Take care of her, Minhyukkie, hmm?” he slapped the younger guy’s shoulder and gripped him so hard that Minhyuk flinched. He needed to be sure that his message were clear: _don’t mess up with her_. Minhyuk relieved a sigh of pained breath as Heechul finally released his grip on his shoulder and bid his goodbye to Soojung. “Call me if he harassed you in any kind of—“

“I can take care of myself, _oppa_ ,” she cut him off. Heechul smiled softly at her, giving her a brief hug before finally walked out to the exit door, “Be careful, Heechul _oppa_! _Gomawo-yo!_ ” she waved her hand as Heechul had walked further away.

As he was out of their hearing range, Minhyuk commented, “No wonder you’ve never had a boyfriend, Soojungie. You’ve had too many overprotective brothers around you. Akh!”

She shut him up with a slap squarely on his chest.

“You guys really like to get physical, don’t you?” he complained playfully. Fortunately, he could avoid another slap that was coming from her. She tried again with her other hand, so he caught her wrist and hold her there. He crooked his neck and suddenly his tone turned sad, “You’re still mad at me.”

She freed her hand from his grip with no difficulty, “I’m not mad at you.”

“Then why are you avoiding me?”

“I’m not avoiding you,” she could see him looking at her sternly, not buying her lies at all. “It was just... I...” she racked her brain to find some kind of explanation to cover up her behavior these past weeks but find none. She sighed and finally faced him, “ _Oppa_ , I know you were mad at me. You _should_ be mad at me. But can we talk about this later? I’m just not ready to talk about it yet.”

“I’m not mad at you, Soojungie...” he then wrapped his arm around her shoulder, calming her down, walking her out to the parking zone, “I was just wondering why are you giving me the cold shoulder. If it’s something that I’ve done wrong, then I’m sorr—“

“—it’s not about you, _oppa_. You’ve done nothing wrong,” she assured him.

He nodded several times, relieved, “ _Geude_. Just... warned me first _if_ you’re going to shut me out like that again. Okay?”

“ _Oh_ ,” she agreed. She took a deep breath as he squeezed her shoulder and sling his arm around her neck. One of her hand wrapped him around his waist while the other clutching his yellow sweater tight.

She decided that she would savor these moments while they’re last.

***

She was positively chirped today. There’s a slight jump in every single step she made, her face was glowing as she greeted everyone on the set. Despite the chilly weather, she’s still came early to the location that would be Jeguk High School. She liked it here. The buildings were so extensive, laid out immaculately on a vast expanse of land with fantastic scenery. She was truly wondering how much it cost to rent such a place as a filming location.

It’s been a couple of weeks after she’d on a good terms with Minhyuk _oppa_. Their relationship back to normal—if you could call that normal—he still teased him endlessly, and she was warming up to him again. It was great.

She led her own way to the entrance where the glasses doors opened automatically as soon as she stepped her feet in front of it. The crew, the extras, and some of the other actors were already loitering around preparing for their own scenes. She saw Park Shin Hye _unnie_ were chatting idly with some other actors inside one of the room, so she decided to approach them.

“ _Annyeonghaseyo unnie, oppa, sunbaenim!_ ” She greeted them cheerfully.

Everyone’s attention was now on her, welcoming her with warm greetings.

“ _Annyeonghaseyo, Soojung-ssi_ ,” Woobin _oppa_ staring down at her with a genuine smile that somehow still managed to scared her off a bit, “Someone’s been awfully energetic this early in the morning. You must’ve been having a very good night sleep, aren’t you?”

Soojung’s bit her lip from smiling too much. She’s actually feeling sorry for them such as Minho _oppa_ , Woobin _oppa_ , and Shin Hye _unnie_ who didn’t get much sleep because they had too many scenes. She had heard that they’re only sleep 2-3 hours a day, most of the time they even have to stay the night on the set. While her filming mostly didn’t take a whole day, but being on the set for more than 12 hours a day was already exhausting, she couldn’t imagine how tiring it would feel like to be the leading actors.

“Kim Woobin!” despite the big bag under her eyes, Shin Hye _unnie_ surprisingly still had the energy to yell like that, “Of course she was so happy. Today is her birthday!”

Some of them were surprise with Shin Hye’s revelation, while some of them clapped their hands for her. Shin Hye herself walked around the tables to hug her and congratulated her properly, “Happy Birthday, Soojungie! I hope you had the best birthday of your life, and I wished you the best out of everything. I’m sorry I couldn’t get you any gift today, but I promise I’ll buy you one as soon as I had some time off, okay?”

“It’s alright, _unnie_ , you don’t have to give me anything! I can’t believe you even know my birthday! Thank you so much!” Soojung felt absolutely giddy just to know that someone’s here remembered her special day.

“That won’t do!” Shin Hye exclaimed, “Of course I have to give a birthday gift to one of my favorite _dongsaeng_ of all~~”

“ _Unnie_ , I thought Minhyuk _oppa_ is your favorite _dongsaeng_...”

“Nope. He came second. You officially replaced him at the top. Besides, you’re way cuter than Minhyukkie...”

Soojung giggled along with her, “I can’t wait to see his reaction if he ever heard that!”

“Heard what?”

Minhyuk entered the room just in time. He was carrying a big plain white box on his hands and placed it on top of one of the tables. Soojung and Park Shin Hye looking at each other then burst out laughing.

Lee Minho walked to his side and wrapped him in brotherly hug, “Soojung had just replaced you as Shin Hye’s favorite _dongsaeng_. Be tough, boy,” he patted him on the back teasingly.

“What?” Minhyuk played along, “ _Noona, wae~?_ ” He then doing _aegyo_ by acting hurt, pouting and giving her his best puppy eyes.

“ _Unnie!_ ” Soojung put up a fight, tugging at Shin Hye’s arm, “Please be strong! I thought you said that I’m way more cuter than him,” Soojung blinking her eyes and turning her body left and right, her best weapon at suggesting people to grant her wish.

“ _Omo!_ ” Shin Hye and people around them laughing at the couple’s antics. “Stop it, both of you! You’re killing me with the cuteness overload. _Ottoke?!_ ”

“ _Unnieee~~~_ ”

“ _Arasseo_... Since it is your birthday, I should let you win, Soojungie...”

Soojung jumped excitedly in victory, clapping her hands then linking her arm with Park Shin Hye. She didn’t forget to stick her tongue out to Minhyuk childishly.

Woobin suddenly came to Shin Hye’s other side, looking absolutely ridiculous imitating Soojung’s _aegyo_ and linking his arm on Shin Hye’s, “ _Unnieee~~~_ _I_ should be your favorite _dongsaeng_...”

That made the whole room burst out in laughter at Woobin’s silliness. Most of them bent over with their hands clutching their stomach, some even shed some tears due to the intensity of their laugh. Shin Hye slapped him hard on his arm, while Woobin kept on.

“Kim Woobin! Stop it!” Shin Hye scolded him even more. “Your face and your feature were not compatible to do these kinds of things. Seriously, stop it!”

Woobin finally relented to her orders, pleased to see that he was successfully entertaining everyone. He then walked to Minhyuk’s side, giving him another brotherly hug from his other side. “ _Yah,_ Minhyukkie! Did you know that today is your girlfriend’s birthday?”

“ _Jinjja_?!”

“ _Yah!!!_ ”

The four other occupants yelled at him in unison upon hearing his answer, while the others gasped disapprovingly. Woobin and Minho even slapped his back so hard his skin throbbed painfully. As if it wasn’t enough, Shin Hye pinched him on his ear making him begging for mercy. All the while Soojung stomped her feet endlessly which looked exactly like an angry version of her earlier _aegyo_.

But still, Woobin’s _aegyo_ version was much scarier than her angry version.

“ _Yah!_ How come you didn’t know your own girlfriend’s birthday?” Minho scolded him out of disappointment. “ _Aiishh jinjja_ , you’re embarrassing me!” Even though Minhyuk wondered what it had anything to do with him.

As everyone had satisfied channeling their anger out on him and he was free from any harm, he put some distance between himself and them, just in case. “ _Yah_ , what is it with you, guys? Akh, my whole body hurts...” he grimaced.

“Suits you well,” Shin Hye rolled her eyes, “That’s the price for being a bad boyfriend.”

“Who said that I’m being a bad boyfriend?” He complained again. Shin Hye was about to hit him some more to made him come to his senses when he pointed to the white box he had carried earlier. Everyone now looking at the box curiously, “What do you think it was?”

Soojung opened the lid of the white box, only to find another box in it, wrapped in a pretty fancy paper and a big beautiful ribbon on top of it. A card written “Happy Birthday, Soojungie” was slipped in between the ribbon, along with his signature below. She gasped. Apparently, he did know that it was her birthday. He even spared some time to buy her a gift!

Minhyuk now standing right at her side, “Open it.”

Greedily, she opened the second lid. There she found a green owl-like doll, wearing a baseball cap. She took the owl carefully, squealing happily she couldn’t stop herself from bouncing up and down like a little kid, “ _Omo!_ It’s so cute! Absolutely cute! This is really cute!” She hugged the stuffed animal with her eyes beaming up at Minhyuk. “ _Gomawo, Minhyuk oppa_! I really love this! Look!” She showed him the owl’s face, “It even looked like you!”

Minhyuk making weird faces as she regarded him resembling an owl, “And why was that?”

“It won’t open its eyes.”

Minhyuk chuckled at her statement, “ _Aigoo~~~_ ” he ruffled her hair, a gesture that she was already getting used to. She didn’t even complaining as he was obviously messing up her hair purposefully. “It’s a _roumang_. And you can use it to warmed up your hands,” he showed her the pockets on each side of the doll. He took her hands and put them there.

“ _Oh_!” Soojung exclaimed in amazement, “It’s really warm!” She hugged the doll to her chest once again, this time too quickly that the baseball cap almost falls out of its head.

“ _Yah_ be careful,” Minhyuk caught the cap just in time. He helped her to put her hair in order before he put it on top of her head. “There. _Uri_ Soojungie is really pretty with a baseball cap,” he praised her sincerely.

“Of course,” Soojung said confidently, “I looked good on anything. But then, what about the baseball cap?”

“What about it?” Minhyuk asked her back, “I bought it while we’re filming in LA, but I kept on forgetting to give it to you. You begged me to bought you a gift from LA, remember?”

“Ahhh~~~” Soojung then remembered. She totally forgot about it, especially that because she was too busy to avoid him at the time. “Thanks again, _oppa_. You really are the best!”

“I know, right?” He then squinted his eyes to their audience, “Now, who said that I was being a horrible boyfriend? I wanted all of you to take back your words.”

“ _Yahh_ ,” Woobin spoke out first, approaching him slowly, “You really are a good boyfriend. If this is what you would do for you on-screen girlfriend, I wonder what would you do to your _real_ girlfriend. _Woahh_...” Woobin patted his shoulders, softly now.

“ _Yah, oppa!_ ” Soojung yelled to her _sunbaes_. “The two of you harassing him physically just now. You too, _unnie_ ,” Shin Hye startled that this girl was brave enough to challenge her seniors like that, “All of you not only need to apologize to my _oppa_ , but you need to be responsible for the pain you caused on him.” She turned her body to check up on Minhyuk, “Let me see your ear, _oppa. Omo_! It’s so red, it must be so painful... What about your back, _oppa_? Should I tell them to give you a back rub?”

“ _Yah Jung Soojung!_ ” Lee Minho and Kim Woobin protested in unison.

Soojung sneered unapologetically to them, “If you left any bruises on his back, I’m going to kill you,” she threwew a punch to the older guys, then shifted back to act like a doting girlfriend to Minhyuk, “My poor _oppa_... it must have been really hurt...”

Minhyuk chuckled loudly, “ _God_ , it felt really good to have a girlfriend,” he bragged.

One by one, people now congratulated Soojung for her birthday. She was feeling grateful, she had found another family in this drama. People who knew her personally, people who loved her for the way she was, people who she was feeling comfortable with.

“We should take some pictures together,” Minhyuk suggested, pulling out his phone from the pocket of his jeans. He was about to took a selca of the two of them, when he realized that she was hesitating. “What? What’s wrong?”

“ _Ani_...” she was fiddling with the feet of her _roumang_ doll, “I just wanted you to promise me something...”

“What would it be?”

“ _Oppa_... promise me that you won’t post any of it to social media, okay?”

Minhyuk observed the pleading look she put on. It looked like she was doing _aegyo_ , but the lack of playfulness in her eyes implied that she was serious. In fact, he swore he could see a slight fear that she was trying to hide so hard. If he didn’t so use to her actual cuteness, he wouldn’t notice the difference.

“Okay,” Minhyuk consented to her request, “But would you like to tell me why?”

She was fidgeting with the doll again. She fell silent to the point that he was sure she wouldn’t say anything, when she finally said with a shaky voice, just slightly above a whisper, “It’s just that... I don’t want to start a rumor. I mean, I don’t want to make your fans angry, _oppa_... I’ve had enough haters, I really don’t need some additions to it.”

Her confessions suddenly made the puzzles in his head clicked in place. He finally could see the complexity of her mind, her true self. He knew there’s something about her that made her looked so fragile, that made her need to build walls of stone between her and everybody else’s to protect herself, even though he still didn’t know the exact reason why, but he felt like he was slowly getting there. Slowly but sure, she trusted him enough to let him in. He just needed to carve his pathway very carefully, with extra patience, or else, she would build a stronger walls made of impenetrable steel.

“Please, don’t be mad,” she continued, “It’s not just with you. I’d probably won’t allow any other man to take a picture with me, but since it’s you, I know I can trust you, right?”

He smiled reassuringly at her, he put his arm around her shoulders, rubbing his palm up and down to soothe her, “Of course. Your secrets safe with me.”

A few minutes later and after several shots of pictures—seriously, both of them were like the king and queen of selca—someone was looking for her.

“Are you Krystal-ssi?” A man with a uniform, most likely like a delivery man, entering the room, “We had a package of meats and lunch boxes for you, sent from your fans. Please sign here to confirm that you have received them.”

Minhyuk looked at Soojung, confused, “I thought you said you have haters. Not fans.”

She nudged him with her elbow. She asked the delivery man, “How many meats were there?”

“Um... 30 kg of meats. And 100 boxes of lunch.”

“ _Mwo?!!!_ ”

She jumped, totally shocked. She couldn’t believe it until she saw it with her own eyes. “Let me see,” she ordered the delivery man to show her where the package was. She pulled Minhyuk’s arm and dragged him along with her.

And there it was, 30 kg of meats, along with the banners wishing her a happy birthday from her fans, arranged neatly in front of the entrance door. People were already gathered surrounding it, drooling over the stacked meats. She pushed past through them, her eyes almost bulging out of the sockets.

“Woahh... I wonder how long it would take for you to eat all these meats. A day?” Minhyuk asked her playfully, knowing how much she loved meats. Not to mention her wondrous appetite. He remembered how much she enjoyed to eat his cooking with Choi Won Young-ssi—Yoon Chanyoung’s dad—even though she was just done finishing her lunch box just a couple of hours before. He seriously wondered where the food have went if she ate that much.

“Are you sure they’re not poisoned?” This time earning him a slap squarely on his chest.

“ _Oppa!_ Instead of saying stupid things like that, you better helped me to think what am I going to do with these meats?!”

He chuckled seeing her freaking out, “Well, you can eat them all. We could have a meat party on the set to celebrate.”

“ _Yah_!! You’re not helping at all! How are we going to ate 30 kg of meats in a night?!”

“Or you can donate them. Take some to share them out to the crew, eat some, and you can send the rest to people who might needed them.”

He was right. Soojung quickly calling the delivery man not to leave yet, telling him to send them over to some kind of foundation that she had known for a few years now. She asked Minhyuk _oppa_ to take some pictures of her with the meats and the banners, just so she could say thank you to her fans later. After everything finally settling down, she watched the container truck which was taking the package slowly went out of her sight.

“I hope I won’t find you crying over the meats later, Soojungie...”

Soojung rolled her eyes at his mindless comment. She had long given up on telling him to stop teasing her, because he won’t. But at the end of the day, his words—no matter how annoying they were—were the ones that had brighten up her days, the reason why she smiled these days.

She stared at the man beside him, memorizing his kind features. Everyone knew he had no bad bones in him, she highly doubted if bad thoughts even had come across his mind. He was companionable, easy to talk to, he was always thinking before he said anything (even the silly ones), he was understanding, he was mature beyond his age, don’t let his childish looks fooled you. And she knew she would be damned if she ever let him just pass her by.

“ _Gomawo yo, oppa_ ,” she said sincerely, “Thank you so much for today.”

_And all the other days that you’ve been there for me._

She wished, someday she would be brave enough to push past her fears. She wished, someday she would be strong enough to face the whole world. She wished, someday she won’t need those walls to protect her fragile heart. She wished, someday she could trust him enough to let him in.

_Someday_. _Someday, surely would come_.

He was smiling at her again. A smile that never failed to make her heart beating faster. She took a few steps closer to him. He was watching her, probably wondering what she was doing. But she didn’t let her mind thinking too much, less she might be chickening out.

She put a quick kiss on his cheek, then ran away.

That’s all that she could give.

For now.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Jjaaannggg! Finally! I've been having a harsh week, and this chapter was suddenly growing longer and longer and full of heavy issues. Some of you had guess right about Soojung's behavior, but I'd like to point out that she had some issues to settle first before she jumped to the real relationship. Remember kids, this unnie telling you, social bullying is NOT a simple matter. It's not cool. It's not okay. It's just some cowardice people who won't take any responsibilities to everything they said. And social media made it so easy for these people to come and go as they please.
> 
> Okay, enough rambling. So tell me, did you see it coming? Are you surprised that it was her who realized her feelings first instead of Minhyuk?


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Still own nothing.**

***

“ _Oppa_ , did you sleep well? You look awfully tired…”

At first, Kang Minhyuk didn’t think that her attention was intentional. He _is_ pretty busy these days with the drama, the Blue Moon tour, the recording for their comeback next year, the promotion for their compilation album, _and_ the reality show that their agency suddenly agreed on: Cheongdamdong 111. He actually didn’t know how he still managed to wake up every morning with his stacked up to-do-list day by day. So it wasn’t that hard to see the bags under his eyes.

He actually kind of amused to see her escalating anxiety in compliance with the more frequently his lacked of sleep caught him up in the middle of the filming. He distinctly remembered that one day when he was literally fall asleep while they were practicing their lines in the library scene, and the next thing he knew he woke up with his head nestled very comfortably on her shoulder, with a blanket—which he was sure weren’t there before—wrapped around his body. He was greeted with hersmile, playfully teasing him that he was drooling and sleep-talking all the time. He was still trying to figure out if it was true, because everyone else’s always said that he was a silent sleeper; he hardly even changed position while he was sleeping. Nevertheless, he had never heard her complaining for his new found habit, and he thought it was very sweet of her.

But then other than the increasing frequency, little by little her attentions step up into a new level significantly.

It started out with a simple act as they were playing a game of tossing flavoured peanuts that the director accidentally saw and said that it would be cute to see a scene where they would feed each other. That scene went pretty well, and ever since then both of them found that it was pretty fun to do in a regular basis. And since they mostly had screentime together, they’re practically went everywhere together. They were practiced their script together, having breakfast, lunch, and dinner together, even went home together, until everybody else’s stopped questioning and start seeing them as a package.

The weird part was it all felt so natural for him. Like he had known this girl forever. He kept waiting for the awkwardness to struck them at unsuspected time, but it never came. It was almost like his relationship with Shin Hye _noona_ , yet at the same time it felt so different. He had this kind of respect for Shin Hye _noona_ that most probably had everything to do with her close “friendship” with Yonghwa _hyung_. He thought of her as his _hyung_ ’s girl, so he knew that their familiarity came from that.

But with Jung Soojung, none of his band members had known her. He had never even introduced them to her properly, for whatever reason there would be. That situation also implied to her side, she had never introduced him to her members, nor to her sister, even though he had met her sister a couple of times now especially since he was regularly taking her home these days. His relationship with Soojung had almost never involved anyone else, it’s just the two of them and they felt way too comfortable with each other it was borderline dangerous. The last time he ever felt this close with a girl, was with his ex-girlfriend, years ago.

Yet he was sure there’s still something different with Soojung that he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.   

He couldn’t exactly remember where and whendid they became so close that he could drawn her in or wrapped his arms around her anytime he felt like it without any hesitation. It couldn’t get past through his mind how easy it was to be with her—while he still remember vividly how nervous he was when he held his ex’s hand for the first time, or how much she tensed everytime he sling his arm around her shoulders that eventually he stopped trying. He’s then rewinded back to his previous drama where he was actually had to kiss his co-star, and decided that all he was feeling back then was awkwardness, nothing even close to compare with what he was feeling now.

He was seriously wondering if his love cells had died somewhere between his last broke up with his ex and his last emotionless romantic scenes, if it wasn’t for the fact that he had noticed how his heart had skipped a bit for a couple of times when Soojung was around.

They were currently filming at the camping set, despite the weather. Why did the writer had the idea that a bunch of spoilt brats of multibillion companies would appreciate this kind of trip was beyond him. That the director had adamantly following through the script that it was okay to had a camping scene this close to winter season was even more obnoxious. Well, at least there was a hotel nearby so they didn’t really have to sleep outside to freeze. Besides, playing paintball with the cast and crew must be really exciting.

Soojung was one of those people who couldn’t keep her enthusiasm to herself. She was practically ordering everyone to play paintball war for real after their done filming, not even letting them to rest first. She was playing dirty to get everyone to comply to her pleas with her _aegyo_ , and being her boyfriend ensured him to became her favorite victim.

He was absolutely, utterly, hopelessly, undeniably wrapped around her fingers.

He could almost hear his _hyungs_ laughing at him from miles away. Everyone’s on the set had teased him endlessly for being helplessly romantic with her, but he couldn’t find it in himself to say that he wasn’t enjoying it at all. To be completely honest, he was looking forward to it. Yes, he was _that_ pathetic.

 _God,_ it’s been too long since he had a girlfriend.

And Soojung had made him craved for a real one, ASAP.

“ _Oppa_ , help me to open this...” Soojung was now sitting beside him after the exhausting game, trying to open a canned juice to no avail. He took the can and opened it with no effort, then giving it back to her with a it-wasn’t-that-hard look. She sipped the juice quietly, hiding a smile that made him wondering if she was just pretending to get his attention.

She had changed her outfit into a thick jacket, a pair of a very short hot pants, which was fortunately complimented with a knee-length boot so he didn’t have to trained his eyes elsewhere from her bare legs. Seriously, those legs were very distracting and had been haunting his nights lately, flashing him some very disturbing images that he needed to pushed so far away at the very corner of his mind, and she made it almost impossible especially if she was flaunting them in front of him in a close proximity like that. He didn’t want to think of her that way—he genuinely thought of her like a little sister, he was pretty sure of it that he had told his CEO exactly that—but as the days gone by, he was second guessing his own thoughts.  

“Soojungie, aren’t you cold?” He asked her out of curiosity. His body was covered with thick clothes that the only visible skin were only his head and his hands and he still felt the cold wind pricked through his clothes. “Why did you wear such a short pants in this kind of weather?”

He saw her blinked as if she had difficulties to process his question. She then looking at her legs that was now covered with a blanket like it could give her some kind of answer. Only then she shrugged her shoulders like it was nothing, “I’ve used to it.”

He nodded his head in understanding, then instinctively putting on his jacket on her, “Don’t let yourself get sick, okay?”

Soojung smiled at his sweet gesture and hummed, leaning her body closer to him then propping her chin on one of her hand. His body also leaned on her out of habit, then he decided to show her some card tricks to kill some time. She played along, but after a while he knew that she wasn’t that interested with the cards, so he took his script instead. He could see from his peripheral vision that she was pouting now that his attention wasn’t on her anymore.

“ _Oppa_ , we only had a one-shot after this. Do you really had to practice it?”

He chuckled at her protest, putting the script back on the table, he stated, “Practice makes perfect.” He’s smiling even more as she curled her lips in displeased, so he took one of her hand and intertwined their fingers together.

He wasn’t prepared when she suddenly tensed under his hand.

“ _Omo_!” She shrieked quietly, “ _Oppa_ , your hand is freezing!” She took his other hand boltly before he even could register what she was saying, the expression on her face turned from shocked to worried in a flash of second, “Are you okay, _oppa_? You should’ve had told me if you’re feeling cold!”

He finally could process what she meant and the only response he could manage was, “Why? So you could warm me up?”

That successfully made her pissed off and blushed instantly. She threw his hands forcefully, turning her body away from his grinning face, mumbling in a whisper that he could barely hear, “You’re not that sick if you still can tease me like that.”

“ _Mianhe, Jungie-ah_ ,” he said apologetically, “But I do feeling cold. Are you okay if I take my jacket back from you?”

She nodded her answer, still not looking at him. So he peeled off his jacket from her carefully, hoping that she would not stay mad for long like the last time.

The day had gone too fast, the earth had turned around for the sun to gave its light on the other side of the world, replaced by the moon that was on its fullest. The temperature had dropped down pretty drastically, forcing people to cooped up even deeper under their blanket and jacket, hoping it could provide them the much needed warmth to get through the night. Most of the cast only had a few more scenes after dinner before they could go back to the hotel and back to the camp site the next morning—except for Lee Minho and Park Shin Hye and the crew, who were most probably going to spent the rest of the night filming on the outside.

Minhyuk had just done filming his scene with Soojung, Kim Woobin, Park Shin Hye, and Park Hyungsik. He just had 1 more scene of calling Yoo Rachel before he had done for the day. Just 1 more scene, he only had to endure this cold night for a few more hours, he cheered himself up before he suddenly sneezed loudly.

Soojung was beside him in a flash, offering him some tissue as he sneezed again. He thanked her apologetically, slightly feeling bad after seeing her concerned look for him.

 _So that’s how to make her stopped being mad at him_ , then he kicked himself mentally for thinking like that in this situation.

“ _Oppa_ , did you catch a cold?” He let her put her hand on his forehead to check up on him, “You were a bit warm. Should we asked the director to give you an early pass?”

“What? No, it’s okay,” he refused her gently, “It’s just only 1 more scene. I think I can handle it,” he tried to convince her. “You should go ahead to the hotel before you get sick, too, Soojungie...”

She wrinkled her forehead in annoyance, “Tsk, _oppa_ , how could you say that when it was clearly you who had gotten sick? You should worry about yourself first before others...” she stomped her feet away from him, but he could still heard her grumbling along the way, “I’m going to see if they had extra blanket for you. _Aishh_... they should’ve served some warm soup for dinner in this kind of weather... Tsk, I should’ve brought those medicine _eomma_ had prepared for me, where am I going to find one in here?”

“ _Heol_ ,” Park Hyungsik snorted hearing her rant, “She was really worried sick about you. Are you sure you’re not dating her for real?” he asked Minhyuk with that funny face of his.

Minhyuk sighed with a smile, “I can assure you, Park Hyungsik, there’s nothing going on between me and Soojung.”

“ _Daebak_...” Hyungsik shaking his head vigorously, his face implied something between confusion and amazement, “If I were you, I’d probably had asked her out. Seriously, can’t you see? She was smitten with you.”

“It’s not like that...”  he tried to explain again. God, this conversation was getting old. “It was just because we’re playing as a couple—“

“ _Ara... ara..._ ” Hyungsik dismissed him with a flick of his hand, “But don’t you feel anything, really? It’s weird, you know, the way you’re acting around each other,” he then stepped closer to Minhyuk, adding with a whisper, “Even the lead couple were _not_ that close. Akh! _Yah_ , what was that for?!”

Minhyuk slapped Hyungsik’s shoulder so hard he forgot that he was sick, “Don’t talk like that about them. They were working so hard, you should respect them more—“

“ _Yah, yah, yah_ , what are you two fighting about?” Park Shin Hye startled them by standing before them so suddenly, “Don’t tell me you were fighting over our Soojungie?”

“Woah...can I?”

“It’s not—“ Minhyuk glared at Hyungsik when he realized what he was saying, “What did you say?”

“ _Wae?_ ” Hyungsik challenged him with his eyes, looking suddenly serious, “You said you didn’t have any feelings whatsoever towards her, so it means everyone was free to have a chance with her, right?”

Minhyuk’s glare to him became more and more deathly, “ _Mwo?!_ ”

“ _Yah_ , she was reaaally pretty. Don’t you know that almost every guy here wanted to approach her? The only reason they didn’t is because the director told us to leave you two alone. If you like her, I suggested that you tell her soon. Because if not, someone else’s would be ready to snatch her away from y—“

He didn’t know what had possessed him to grab Hyungsik on his collar, “ _Did you have a death wish?_ ”

“ _Yah! Kang Minhyuk!_ ” Shin Hye screamed at him to stop. Fortunately, Kim Woobin saw what happened and he stopped the young men from fighting just in time. Thanks to his monstrous posture, he could handle the two of them just fine.

Woobin looked at Kang Minhyuk sternly who still had that killer eyes fixated on Hyungsik, just like a predator who was waiting to pounce on his prey, the kindness that used to be there had gone without any trace. Hyungsik on the other hand was very relax, so Woobin focusing on Minhyuk by took him on his jacket and shook him out to come to his senses, “What the fuck is going on with you, Minhyuk-ssi?” Woobin said in that very intimidating low tone of his that had been known could sent goosebumps to anyone who hear it.

He thanked God that it wasn’t just a myth as he saw the blood-lust look in Minhyuk’s eyes faded away and slowly getting his kind vibe back. He looked slightly disoriented, but Woobin kept his hand on him as the guy before him finally looked like Kang Minhyuk that everyone’s known of. “Are you okay now?” Woobin asked him again just in case. Minhyuk nodded his head, a slight regret flashed between his eyes, only then Woobin let him go and Shin Hye released a loud breath.

“I’m sorry _hyung_ , _noona_ , Hyungsik... I didn’t mean to...”

Then Hyungsik surprised them with his booming laugh.

“ _Omo... omo... hyung!_ ” Hyungsik clutching his stomach while his other hand pointing at Minhyuk, “ _Hyung_ , you saw that, right? You saw that! I was just teasing you!” He regarded to Minhyuk, “And look at your reaction! God! That was priceless! Muahahahahha...”

Woobin sneered at Minhyuk who was now pinching the bridge of his nose, feeling absolutely stupid that he fell for that.

“It wasn’t funny, Park Hyungsik...” Minhyuk scolded him who was still busy laughing his ass off.

“He’s right,” Fortunately, Shin Hye _noona_ had taking his side, “That wasn’t funny at all. Did you really wish to die?” she threw a punch to Hyungsik’s arm, but it didn’t affect him that much.

“ _Are you saying that all of this trouble just for a stupid joke?_ ”

Hyungsik fell silent immediately as soon as he realized that Woobin _hyung_ was giving him _that_ look. You know, _that_ look, that infamous look that could sent shivers all over your body. He smiled sheepishly at him, trying to win him over with his _aegyo_ , “I’m sorry, _oppa_... I swear I’m not going to do that ever again. Okay?” he winked his eyes rapidly.

“You’re lucky you didn’t get any bruises for now. But next time, I will let Minhyuk here to do whatever he intended to do earlier. If I were you, I’ll be careful not to wake up a sleeping lion like you did just now,” Woobin turned around to leave them alone, but stopped at Minhyuk briefly, “And you’re lucky no one else was around to see that. You’re in a big deep trouble if someone tipped this to the media,” he patted his shoulder twice and went away.

“You scared me for a moment there, Minhyukkie...” Shin Hye _noona_ approached him, “Here, Soojung told me to give you this earlier,” she offered him a blanket. “You really need to take care of yourself more, Yong _oppa_ had told me that you’re one of that person who get sick easily, _oh_? Did you bring any vitamins or medicine with you?”

“Not today, _noona_ , but thanks, I think I’m going to be alright with a little rest. And _noona_ , could you please not to tell Soojung about this? I don’t want her to be even more worried than she already is right now...”

“ _Aigoo_...” Hyungsik sling his arm around him teasingly, “Everyone was worried about you and all you were worried about is Soojung. _Noona_ , how sweet is that?”

Shin Hye glared at Hyungsik, “ _Yah_ , haven’t you learn your lesson today, Park Hyungsik? Did Woobin’s threat wasn’t enough for you? Stop teasing him for real...”

Hyungsik pouted at Shin Hye _noona_ , “ _Noona_ , did you have to be so mean to me? I was just _helping_ him to see what he’s going to miss—“

“—okay, that’s enough. Let him do whatever he wanted to do, don’t push him to do something that he wasn’t sure of.”

“But, _noona_ , it was so obvious—“ but Shin Hye _noona_ had dragged him away from Minhyuk before he could finish his sentence and did another damage.

“ _Oppa_ ,” and there she was, the timing couldn’t be more perfect and she was oblivious with everything that happened while she was gone, “I’ve brought you some medicine. Where is everyone? Why did Shin Hye _unnie_ dragging Hyungsik _oppa_ like that? And why didn’t you put on the blanket I gave you? It’s getting even cold!”

Kang Minhyuk could only thanked God silently that this girl didn’t saw the incident just earlier because he didn’t know how to explain himself if she did. Or if someone else’s did. He hadn’t made his mind up yet about his feeling. And yes, if his overreaction was any indication, he was now admitted that he probably had a feeling towards this girl, a strong feeling that the thought of another guy approaching her was enough to make his head boiled.

The problem now, he was just not very sure if it was _his_ feeling towards Jung Soojung or it was Yoon Chanyoung’s towards Lee Bona. Or probably he was only liking her as Lee Bona. Each of them had a whole different meaning and he didn’t want to get himself confused. He needed to draw out the lines clearly, needed to separate himself from Yoon Chanyoung, needed to recognize the real Jung Soojung from Lee Bona. That would be a difficult task since both of them had a very similar personalities with their characters, but it had to be done, because he didn’t want to jump into these blurres lines only to find out later that he was falling for a fictional character.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Did I make you guys waiting for far too long? Hehehe, I'm really sorry, this chapter should've been longer but seeing how it turned out—I really didn’t intend to write an overzealous Minhyuk there, but the story write for itself! It's funny how you made a clear draft on what you wanted to write in your mind, but once you write it, a whole different ideas popped out and you just can't help but to go with it—so I have to end this chapter here and save the rest of it for next chapter.  
> Seemed like some stupid guy spent too much time on thinking about what he's feeling...do you think our Kang Minhyuk is that type of a guy? Because I do think that most guys are like that, they take time to think over everything, but once they've made up their mind (and heart), boom!, they go for it. Unlike girls, who are mostly jumped head-first without thinking or even when they already know that they're going to end up with a broken heart. Tell me what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Still own nothing, people...**

***

Soojung noticed that Minhyuk _oppa_ ’s condition didn’t get any better as morning came the next day. Last night, she insisted to keep him company through his last scene despite his endless pleas to make her back to the hotel first. There’s no way she would leave him cold and alone out there while she was sleeping soundly in her warm bed. Scratch that. In fact, there’s just no way she would’ve gotten any sleep at all if she knew he didn’t get the rest he needed. Knowing him, and she was pretty sure that she had known him well enough to tell that he was such a hard-worker, he won’t take any rest until his job done, no matter how much alarms in his body practically crying for him to stop.

Someone needed to take care of him.

And Soojung had pointed herself to do the task. She was very determined with it that she asked the director to moved up his scene, reasoning that it would be a quick one-shot and it would spare them a much much more efficient time to set up for the next scene. The director quirked an eyebrow at this, taking a quick peek at Minhyuk who was deliriously trying to keep his eyes open and his smile intact to convinced everyone that he was fine, and finally consented with her request wisely. They do have more scenes for the next day, and it wouldn’t do anyone good if one of his actors wasn’t on their best shape.

As they were the last group of actors that went back to the hotel together in a rented car, with Park Hyungsik _oppa_ and Kim Woobin _oppa_ in the front seat, and Minhyuk _oppa_ finally relented on the back seat with his head cuddled peacefully on her shoulder—not that she minded. She was thrilled that he trusted her enough to use her as a living pillow regularly, completely ignoring the constant snickering that the other occupants did from their front seat.

She really went over the top as she was also there to open his hotel room while Park Hyungsik _oppa_ and Kim Woobin _oppa_ supported the drunken-like Minhyuk by the shoulders from the car up to his bed. Kim Woobin bid his farewell and went to his shared room with Lee Minho _oppa_ , while she helped Park Hyungsik _oppa_ who happened to be Minhyuk _oppa_ ’s roommate to take off his shoes and wrapped him tight with the blanket. She took her time to stare at the sleeping boy—after making sure that Hyungsik _oppa_ had gone to use the bathroom or change his clothes, or whatever—something that she never got the chance (and the guts) to do before. He looked like a baby when he was sleeping; and it took all of her willpower not to climbed up his bed and kissed him right then and there.

She felt like that perverted-bad-guy in the movies who was trying to molested an innocent girl. While she was supposed to be the girl.

She shook her head out of her daydream before she caught herself glued to stare at him all night long, then literally running for her life to the front door.

She had no idea how did everything had gotten out of hand.

***

She woke up early, went straight to the kitchen and preparing to cook something for a certain guy who apparently didn’t take his days off wisely. Yesterday was his first day filming after a couple days of bedrest. He was getting better—his temperature had gone pretty high by the end of the day their filming at the camp—but he’s still not fully recovered. She caught him trying to hide a cough once or twice, especially after she was giving him a knowing look that she was not pleased at all.

She was chopping some vegetables when she heard the footsteps from upstairs that must have been her sister, Jessica. Her sister was already dressed in a comfortable outfit, most probably for SNSD’s dance practice. They were having a comeback next year and Soojung felt a slight envy because f(x)’s comeback was still on the waiting list after EXO, Super Junior, and who knew what else. Soojung was known as the girl who couldn’t stay still for a minute; her body’s always itchy to do some work. Well, it’s a good thing that her agency had piled up her schedule with filming, comercial, photoshoot, and SM the Ballad so she wouldn’t be found dead of boredom.

Her sister must have been sniffing her way through the kitchen because the first thing she said was, “Hmm...that smells good...” instead of her trademark “Morning, Jungie-yah!”

So Soojung did her a favour by greeting her sister first, “Morning, _unnie_!” which was replied with a bright smile from Jessica. Her sister plopped herself down on one of the stool right in front of the counter top, watching the younger girl playing housewife. Unlike her, her baby sister was pretty good at cooking ever since they were young. Somehow their mom trusted Soojung more with the knives and the frying pans and the stove, because admit it, Jessica and the kitchen set wasn’t quite a match.

“So Jungie-yah, what’s for breakfast today? It smells really good from upstairs...” Jessica propped her chin on her hand with her elbow on the counter, trying to figure out what’s their menu for today, only to given up a second later since she couldn’t name half of the ingredients.

Soojung answered shortly without looking up, “I’m making a _jeonbokjuk_ for breakfast and _samgyetang_ with dumplings for later,” she said, folding the dumpling with expert hand and stirring the porridge like some kind of multitasking queen.

Jessica blinked by hearing _jeonbokjuk_ , “Is someone sick, Jungie-yah?” She leaned closer to get a better look at her sister, “But you look perfectly fine...”

The younger girl released a heavy sigh, which was not gone unnoticed by the older one, “It’s not me who had gotten sick, _unnie_...” Jessica strained her ears because she knew there’s something more she wanted to say. Soojung finally looked her in the eye, even for just a second, and she went back to her task, “It’s Minhyuk _oppa_. He’s been sick for almost a week,” she said casually like it was nothing. But Jessica knew better.

“Oh! Minhyuk was sick? Is that why I haven’t seen him these days?” Jessica asked, she was actually curious because he used to sent her sister home, but lately, it was her manager or sometimes it was Jessica herself who picked her up if she happened to be around the set.

Soojung shrugged her shoulders lightly, “It’s nothing, really. Just a common cold, I think.”

Jessica gave her a stern look, prompted her to emphazise. If it was really nothing as she said, then why went through all of this trouble?

“So...” she inquired carefully, “Is all this food for me or for Minhyuk?” Of course, she knew the answer already, _jeonbukjuk_ was actually a porridge that you made specifically to help someone recovered faster, and Jessica wasn’t the sick one here. But she would eat everything that Soojung’s made, because her little sister’s was actually that good.

Soojung finally showed some emotion with an annoying look in her eyes, most likely tired from pondering Jessica’s questions, “Don’t worry, _unnie_ , I’ve made enough for us to eat. You can actually warmed up the _samgyatang_ once you came home from practice.”

“And you’d still have enough to bring some to the set?”

Soojung’s confirmed her answer with a breathy sigh, then went back to the task at hand. Sica _unnie_ could be so noisy sometimes.

But Jessica wasn’t going to stop there. It had been bugging her ever since Soojung had her filming, at first she thought that the rumour would dissipated by itself, only that it didn’t. Her SNSD’s members had asked her about it, her manager had been concerned, even Heechul _oppa_ had warned her to keep an eye on Soojung. She needed at least a confirmation of what was actually happening.

“Jungie-yah...” Jessica tried an extra caution to approach her sister, observing every tiny changes in her face so that she wouldn’t miss a thing, “Are you dating with Kang Minhyuk?”

Soojung snapped immediately at her sister, “What? No!” Jessica noticed that Soojung now stirred the porridge a little bit too rough than before, but at least, she knew that she answered the question truthfully. “ _Gosh_! I’m so sick with people asking me these questions,” she chopped the chicken into small chunks like she was murdering it, “Not you too, _unnie_. I’ve had enough with people on the set teasing me and Minhyuk _oppa_ about this. We’re not dating, okay?” she said with a rough edges in her tone that were almost turned into a yelling.

“But you do like him?”

The question hung in the air with a loud echo in Soojung’s ears. Jessica now watching her sister freeze like a thunder had struck her and stopped her to do whatever she was doing just then. The knife on her hand was released from her grip with a loud clank, her face contorted into something like a guilt, eyes staring straight through the chicken that was laying lifelessly there.

And she knew it.

Call it some kind of sister’s instinct, but Jessica finally had her answer.

Jessica jumped from her seat and craddled her sister in a big hug. _Her poor baby sister_. She didn’t have to tell her specifically about her feelings to _him_ —and yes, she didn’t even have to ask who was _him_ —she’s already knew by the way she was talking about him, the sparkle in her eyes everytime he sent her home, and how tight she hold that _roumang_ doll to sleep every night. She was kind of hoping that it was just a crush that would end as soon as it was begun, but looking at how her sister’s was sobbing on her shoulder right now, she knew it went deeper than just a summer fling.

At first she scoffed at everyone’s overreaction about this because she thought Minhyuk was a sweet guy, and she certainly wouldn’t mind with the idea of her sister liking him, but now that she get it, somehow she wished that he wasn’t that sweet just so that she would have an excuse to told him to stay away from Soojung without being an evil big sister.

***

Kang Minhyuk had made a sort of list in his head of the things that he had observed to distinguish Jung Soojung from Lee Bona. These were a few of it:

Lee Bona was a talkative person; while Jung Soojung was actually on the quiet one. In retaliation, Soojung was actively on the move, you could literally saw her jumping from room to room, greeting and making fun of everyone she met on the run. It’s not a rarity to see her asking a few people to do some dance moves with her or her running around chasing the other casts. He was pretty sure some of it had been captured on the camera and he couldn’t wait to see her reaction if any of it ended up in the BTS sequence.

Lee Bona was kind of impulsive, she said everything she was thinking and you could tell everything she was feeling like an open book; while Jung Soojung loved to held it all in. The only time he had ever saw her getting mad was that time when she was giving him the silent treatment, even then she was smiling and acting _almost_ normally around him that no one else even noticed that they weren’t talking at the time. Minhyuk was having a hard time on guessing her mood simply because she wore the facade perfectly. The only way he knew how to cracked that mask of her was by teasing her. He could see a glimpse of her true feeling shortly after the blood suddenly rushing up to her face: if she was laughing or yelling at him or smacking him with a force that means she was in a good mood. Otherwise, if she was giving him a minimum reaction like smiling sheepishly or hiding her face with her hair or shutting him out completely, that could only meant that she didn’t want any of your crap right then.

Another thing that he had noticed was that Lee Bona was innocent. He didn’t say that Jung Soojung wasn’t either; but while Lee Bona would shy away from any physical contact even with her boyfriend, Jung Soojung seemed like she didn’t mind with it. Especially once she felt comfortable enough with that person. There were times when she get embarrased while they had a scene with his arms around her, instead of leaning away and letting him go, she would practically hid her face on his chest, or shoulders, or arms, or even on his back. There was one time when she was almost tripped at the scene where Lee Bona was running away from Yoon Chanyoung after the broadcast, and she got very red in the face that she turned back to him and about to buried herself in his chest, only then she remembered that the camera’s still rolling and she saved herself in the nick of a time and bent over in front of him instead. That would be his favourite scene of all, for sure.  

One thing of Lee Bona’s trait that he really liked was: she only had eyes for her boyfriend. She was very dedicated to Yoon Chanyoung, only craved for his attention and would do anything to make sure that it was all on her. It was hard to find that kind of girl in real life these days—the one that could be cute-charming-clingy type of girl, not the annoying-overreaction-clingy ones—and he wondered if Soojung was one of them.

But one thing that he absolutely loved about Jung Soojung was: her determination to take care of other people. It was like her own heart couldn’t contain that much love that she needed to share them to everyone around her so it wouldn’t bursted out of her chest and get wasted. And Minhyuk felt so lucky because he was one of those people who could enjoy most of it on a regular basis. Even if it was just on the set. Even if he was only her on-screen boyfriend—he could only imagine what kind of attention she would give if she ever had a real boyfriend, and immediately tossed it to the bin inside of his head before he snapped at something. Soojung had become his own personal haven, the one person who would nagged him endlessly if he didn’t do exactly what she had suggested him to.

That made him reminded of another Jung in his dorm, “Soojungie, are you sure you didn’t have any kind of family relation with Yonghwa _hyung_?” he asked as he scooped a spoonfull of _jeonbokjuk_ that looked and smelled amazing he must be drooling, “I swear that both of you had that similar _persuasive_ personality trait that none of the other family had.”

She looked at him with that warning look in her eyes that he found adorable rather than intimidating, “Just eat your _jeonbokjuk_ , _oppa_ ,” he could see from the corner of his eyes that she was scrutinizing his face expectantly as he chewed down the dish.

“Mmm! Woah this is really good, Soojungie!” Minhyuk appraised her sincerely and she beamed at him. “I don’t know that you’re _this_ good! You should’ve cook for me more... I really wouldn’t mind,” the blushes on her cheeks were absolutely worthed it as he winked at his own suggestion.

“Actually, I’ve made you some soup and dumplings for lunch...”

And it was just made him blown away he grinned so wide his cheeks hurt. He sling his left arm around her, then pinched her cheek out of joy, “I must be the luckiest man in the world. I should’ve keep you as my girlfriend after this.”

Soojung seemed like contemplating about his idea carefully, only to came up with a mischievous smile, “Then you should’ve started treating me _really_ good.”

He saluted her with his hand that still holding the spoon, accepting her challenge, “As you wish, Princess...”

They stayed at the set until late night to shoot the party scene where everyone’s gathered and every couple in the drama had a romantic scene. Kim Jiwon had gotten impossibly red in the face since she had a kissing scene with Kang Haneul. They were the new teasing target and for once, Soojung and Minhyuk were off the hook.

Minhyuk was actually felt bad towards Soojung because he had to kiss her while he wasn’t fit, he just didn’t want her to get some contagion from him.

“Let’s try to shoot both of you taking a selca while Minhyuk- _ssi_ kissing you and see if we can get it in one-shot,” the director ordered them.

But of course it didn’t. The first try, the camera didn’t even capture their whole faces, only their eyes and above. They were laughing hysterically at that, and try for the second time. Again, it was a little bit over to Soojung’s side and Minhyuk’s face were cut off. The director helped them on positioning the camera for the third and forth time, only the pictures came out slightly blurry. For their last times, the director told them to take some selcas first before they shoot the whole scene. The resulted pictures weren’t exactly the same with how it came out in the scene, but that’s the best they could get.

“I’m sorry, Soojungie... I didn’t want you to get sick too, but I’m suck at one-shots.”

“It’s okay, _oppa_ ,” Soojung tried to reassured him, “People said that I’m the healthiest person they’ve ever met. A little germs won’t make me sick.”

“ _Aigoo_...” Minhyuk pinched her nose lightly, “Don’t you know that you can’t brag about somethings like that? They said that once you did, it would backfired at you.”

Soojung took his hand out of her nose and pouted slightly, “What is this? Do you really want me to get sick?”

“Of course not, gorgeous,” he quipped back playfully, pulling her hand to follow him out to the changing room, “ _Kajja_. Change your clothes. I’m going to take you home.”

“What?” Soojung halt her steps that make him turned around with a questioning look. “You don’t have to do that, _oppa_. Sica _unnie_ would pick me up.”

Minhyuk sighed, he knew that she was going to be difficult, “It’s past midnight, Soojungie. It’s not safe for you _or_ for your sister to stay out this late. Besides,” his tone had turned softer, “It’s the least that I can do to say thank you for taking care of me. Okay?”

“But, you’re also tired, _oppa_ ,” she whined once more, “What if something happened on your way back—“

“—ssshhh,” he shut her off by placing a finger on her lips and their faces were so close she could feel his breath on her face. He looked at her deeply in the eyes, trying to let her see that it was him who should be worried about her, not the other way around. Although he admitted that he was flattered to see her rambling while worrying about him, but he wasn’t going to back down on this. “I’m fine. Just let me take care of you for once, okay?”

He could see her resolve finally crumbling down litle by little, before she nodded her head slowly. Minhyuk smiled tenderly at this, he lowered down his finger from her lips then once again took her hand.

“But _oppa_...”

_Oh God_...

Minhyuk stopped on his track so suddenly that Soojung collided into his back. He turned around and once again looked her deeply into her eyes, only that there’s more determination in his than before. It seemed that he needed to put all the stop to make her relented. He leaned his face forward to hers even closer than before, and without his finger between them, he couldn’t help but to take a peek on her lips, that looked so soft and inviting and he wondered how it would taste like to put his lips on hers—

Instead, he whispered in a very low tone, “If you said one more word, I swear to God I’m really going to kiss you, Jungie-yah...”

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Should he or should he not? >.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Still own nothing.**

***

That shut her off completely.

She didn’t protest anymore when he practically dragged her to the changing room and when he himself had done changing his own clothes then waited in front of her room to pulled her off again to the car. He held the car door for her and helping her to put the seatbelt on, purposefully leaning his body accross her then stopped right in front of her face to turned his head at her. Minhyuk smirked as he heard her sharp intake of breath; he simply had never saw her this dense before. She was sitting upstraight beside him in the car, there’s a gap between her back and her seat, and he wondered if it was comfortable to sit like that especially with the seatbelt on.

She looked like she was ready to jumped out of the car anytime soon if he ever dared to made a sudden move.

She was clearly taking his threat very seriously since there’s not a single sound that was coming out of her all the way to her home.

Minhyuk tried to trick her out by asking a few questions, but she only responded with a slight nod or shake of her head. She was careful not to released a noncomittal sound; she probably thought that he might count that as a word.

He really should’ve just kissed her earlier.

Now that he was really thinking about it, it was probably his one and only chance to try things out. There was only a few days left for their filming, and there’s no guarantee if they’ll ever be remained this close after. He didn’t even know if they would have a kissing scene later, which was unfortunate because in his previous dramas he _always_ got a kissing scene. It was kinda hilarious that the one time he had a perfect chemistry with his co-star, they probably wouldn’t even had shared a kiss.

Fate was playing a cruel game to him, and he was running out of time.

The road to her home had never been this quiet. They were accustomed to chat along the way, so the change of the atmosphere was defeaning. That, and the fact that he was thinking of a way or another to get her to talk to him. Anything. It wasn’t because then he would have an excuse to kiss her— _lies...keep telling yourself that, Kang Minhyuk_ —but he desperately needed to cut off this awkward silence.

He turned off the engine of the car right after they arrived in front of her house, “We’re here, Jungie-yah,” he said as he released his seatbelt. Apparently, he didn’t need to say that since Soojung already had her seatbelt off, currently fumbling with the lunchboxes that she had brought to the set to open the door. She was about to fled away when Minhyuk grabbed her arm, amusement laced in every single words, “Why were you in such a hurry?” Since there’s still no response from her, he took the lunchboxes from her lap, “Let me help you with that.”

She stubbornly ressisting his help. He would have laughed if it wasn’t for the frown look she sported on her face, he probably looked like a bully who was about to seized a toy from the smaller kid.

“It’s okay, _oppa_ , I can—“ her gasped brought her to his attention as both of them realizing her slip, her eyes bulged out at him in horror while she was busy covering her mouth with both of her hands.

The corner of his lips pulled slowly creating a half-smirk-smile, “You owe me a kiss for that.” There must be something wicked reflecting on his face because she was bolted out of the car in a rush, leaving the lunchboxes in his hands. He chuckled happily, taking his time to catch up with her.

 _This is gonna be fun_.

***

She hated him.

God, she hated him so much for playing with her heart like this.

She hated him more because she could never tell if he was being serious or just teasing her when it comes to this kind of thing. It took her a very long time to finally getting used to with him throwing cheesy lines to make her blush, or playing boyfriend-girlfriend act that almost convinced everyone else’s in their vicinity but themselves, but ‘threatening’ to kiss her was taking it to a whole new different level. They didn’t even have a kissing scene, what would people think if they did something that wasn’t even in the script? Was he trying to get them into a scandal?

The latter probably wasn’t true, he had said that with exact confidence that it won’t happen. No matter how much his statement hurted her, she felt relieved to know that he wasn’t that type of guy who would intentionally get into some lame scandal. Now with that ruled out, it was all the more reason for her to figure out what he was thinking. She spent the rest of the night going through with these puzzling, frustrating thoughts.

She concluded there were 3 options about his probable schemes: First, he probably purely just teasing her for fun. If this is the case, he won’t kiss her even if she had said a thousand words. This had happened countless times before. Second, he would stay true to his words. She just wasn’t sure if he was going to kiss her right at the moment or if he would save it for later—at another unknown time and place. This also had happened equally as much as the first option.

But the most scarier option was number 3: he might just kiss her no matter what.

She wasn’t sure which one is the better option. Maybe she should just said a word to see what would happen.

 _Andwae, andwae, andwae_. _Where did that come from_? She shook the thoughts off of her head as soon as it was creeping into her mind. At this rate, saying a word would definitely equated as ‘asking’ for a kiss. _Might as well just get the deed done for yourself, Jung Soojung, it’s not like you haven’t fantasizing about it for a few times already._

She slammed her own head to the lunchboxes in front of her. She could hear his bemused laugh as she did this. Other times, she would glare at him, but this time, she simply didn’t want to do that less she won’t be able to stop herself to rant at him.

So imagined her surprised when all of that torture was ruined with one slip of words.

And all that she could think of was: _ohmyGodohmyGodohmyGodohmyGodohmyGod_.

She ran for her life straight to the entrance of her house, fumbling to get the key to the door, while Minhyuk _oppa_ was following right behind her leisurely like an experienced predator who knew that he would get his prey with ease.

“Jungie-yah!” he called out to her, “Why are you so scared? It was just a kiss...”

 _Just a kiss, my ass!_ How come he thought that it was _just a kiss_? They were in Korea, not in some downtown Western where you could kiss anyone you wanted to casually. She could never accepted it if it was _just a casual kiss_ ; her heart could never handle it, no matter how tempting the idea was.

He was getting closer and closer, she knew it by the sound of his feet that approaching her slowly, he might have caught her easily if he was walking a little bit faster, but he didn’t. He just loved to torment her. It took so much time to get the right key to turned with the clicking sound, and the door finally opened much to her relieve. But she was a second too late.

Minhyuk _oppa_ had grabbed her shoulder and she applauded herself to restrained her screamed so as not to alerted everyone in her house. The last thing she wanted was to let her family saw them like this. She braced herself to faced him, whatever may come, only to find him staring down at her with a slight sad look.

“You were right, this shouldn’t be just a kiss. I’m sorry,” he commented, sliding down the lunchboxes right beside her front door and she only blinked.

_Wait, what? Did she just say that out loud?_

He patted her head softly while she was standing frozen in front of him, completely stunned. He gave her one of his signature smile—only it was lacked of any warmth she would usually felt from him and minus any sparkle in his eyes—before he turned around and walked back to his car.

 _Wait. Is that it? He’s just going to leave her... just like that?_ She wasn’t sure if she should feel relieved that he actually thought over it, but the glistening in her eyes clearly indicated otherwise.

“ _Oppa_!” Thankfully, he stopped at the sound of her voice, but he didn’t turned around. She knew she should have said something other than that. Something that would show him that she was not indifference to him, that she cared about him, that she didn’t want him to avoid her. But her tounge was stuck to her palate, and she only managed to choke, “ _Please_ be careful...”

She wasn’t sure what she was thinking, or how she was hoping he would react, but this felt awfully like a goodbye, and a hurtful one at that, knowing that they’ve had 10 steps back before even taking 1 step forward. She hung her head, staring blankly at her feet that was glued to her spot, forcefully willing for her tears not to fall.

She caught another pair of feet standing before her blurry eyes a moment later, and a hand lifted her chin up tenderly to find his gaze pierced through hers.

She heard him mumbling something like ‘to hell with it’ before he pressed his lips to hers.

All thoughts went out of the window right then and there.

His lips was surprisingly soft, so soft and light it felt like a feather. There’s no movement detected for the first few seconds, except when she finally closed her eyes to feel more of the tingling sensation that creeping slowly to every cells of her body. It was just the simplest act of kissing, until it wasn’t anymore.

Little by little, she felt him pushed extra pressure onto her lips. The pressure had increased significantly, it felt like he was coaxing her to respond, guiding her on what to do, to follow his lead, to kiss him back. It took a few more seconds before she instinctively did, and they take turns on kissing the other, very lightly. It felt so good kissing him like this, like a thousand butterflies fluttering on her lips. But it was him, the one and only guy who could make her heart beating fast, her lips stumbling for words, hands sweating and her head buzzing just by the mere presence of him. To have him upclose, skin-to-skin, holding her with so much care she felt like flying with those butterflies.

The hand that was once on her chin had shifted to the side of her face before it settled to cradle her head with his thumb caressing her cheek gently. As if they weren’t _close_ enough, he snaked his other hand around her waist, pulling her closer roughly so that their body flushed chest to chest and she swore she could feel his heart beats frantically through their clothes. She wondered if he could feel hers, but the thought was interrupted as he deepened his kiss. He literally crushed her chest by holding her so tight and suck the air out of her lungs completely, then maliciously taking an advantage when she was gasping for a much needed air to invade her mouth. The moment his tounge searched for hers tentatively, was the moment when she saw stars.

She went limp. His hands guiding hers to encircle them around his neck, where she was clutching the hair on his nape, or anything she could grab onto to keep her body up. However, he put his hands on good use: keeping her warm by sliding them up and down her back and the side of her waist, where her skin burned and radiating heat to every fiber of her being. It was going for a few minutes, his kisses set her soul alight, her heart’s soared and she sighed contentedly. An involuntary smile curved on her lips. His eyelashes brushed again her cheeks as he opened his eyes, and so did she as his kisses slowed down to look at her in the eye intently. He must have found nothing but delight there because the smile he was given now was practically glowing. He gave her a couple of butterfly kisses more.

“ _Oppa_ ,” she stopped him between kisses, “That was more than _one_ kiss.”

He grinned, “You do know that you owe me more than 10 kisses, right?”

For the nth times in just one day, she blinked. “ _What_?”

“And there’s one more,” his thumb sliding up to her lips, rubbing it like something precious, then quoting his own words, “I said, ‘If you said one more word, I’m going to kiss you’. That means, one kiss for every single words you said. And that’s a total of...” he counted with his fingers, “...21 kisses.” Then he finished it with the most triumphant smile she ever saw.

She gaped at him. Surely. _Did he just count her every words_? She didn’t even remember what she had just said earlier. In fact, she was already lost count on how many times he was kissing her just now—“You’re impossible.”

He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, “23,” he bent down to steal one more kiss from her. “You know, the deal’s not over until I said so.”

Soojung then started hitting him on his chest with both of her hands, she hissed at him, “I’ve never even said that I’m agreed with that!”

“Oh honey, your kisses said it all...” he wiggled his eyebrows at her. That didn’t help him to stop her at all. He caught her hands while laughing at her pouty face.

“You tricked me!”

He put a quick kiss on her, hoping it would dissolve her angry state, “No, I didn’t.” She stomped her foot at that, threw his hands off of hers, turning her back on him and walking back to open her long forgotten door. “Jungie-yah...” he tried to stop her from walking out on him, only to find her slamming the door in front of his face. He couldn’t help but laugh while massaging his temple from smiling too much, “You forgot your lunchboxes...”

She abruptly opened her door, and quickly grabbed the lunchboxes to put it inside. This time Minhyuk was a bit faster to halt her from closing her front door, “Not even a goodnight kiss for me?”

She frowned at his request in disgust, and aswered firmly, “No. Just go home, _oppa_ , it’s late,” then she closed the door and locked it behind her.

“Dream of me, Jungie-yah...”

That was the last words she heard from him that night. She leaned her back on the front door, listening to his footsteps and the roar of his car started off, before she finally let herself to relax. She rested her head on the door, took a deep breath, and replaying what had just happened in her head. Her mind was a complete mess, her body felt gooey like some kind of jelly. She touched her lips with her fingers, and all of a sudden all that sensations came back to her, lighting her up like fireworks.

 _Oh my God, I’m so screwed_.

Minhyuk _oppa_ had just stole her first kiss, and she couldn’t be more happier.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Did I trick you for a moment there? Khekhekhekhe...oh c'mon, you didn't think I would ruin the mood by not giving you the kiss, right? So what do you think about it? Too sweet? Too hot for a first kiss? ;p
> 
> I have to tell you about something. The first time I started this fic, my original plan was to get their first kiss much, much later than this. And by later, I mean, after they finished filming The Heirs, because at the time I wasn't sure about how close Minhyuk and Soojung were. But then the BTS scenes came out, and I was like, hey, they're much closer than I've ever thought. So I decided to move it up a bit. But if anyone ever thought that it was too soon or too out of character since both of them seemed really shy, please do tell me.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Nope. No matter what I do, I still own nothing.**

***

The next morning, the CNBLUE’s dorm seemed a little bit brighter than usual. The members were looking at their drummer suspiciously, because the usually calm guy looked exceptionally cheerful today. He was whistling all morning while helping Jungshin preparing breakfast, while the youngest member took a glance at him every once in a while like he had grown a tail.

At last, Jungshin couldn’t keep his curiosity any longer. He tried to sound as casual as possible as he flipped the omelette, “Looked like someone’s in a good mood today... Did something happen yesterday, Minhyukkie?”

Minhyuk took the bait but only chuckled lightly at Jungshin, “Hmm...” he pretended to think about it, and flashes of Soojung’s lips came to his mind. Yes, something good indeed happen. He nodded at Jungshin, “I guess so.”

“Tsk...” Jungshin mocked him for being so secretive. For all the years he had known him, Minhyuk wasn’t the type of guy who would kiss and tell. He loved to keep his feelings and ideas to himself, only sharing them if it was necessary or if he needed some advice. Jungshin himself had some problems on figuring him out, but of course it never stopped him to digging it out. “Let me guess... it happened on the set?”

Minhyuk contemplating if he should give in some hints with Jungshin’s attempt. He wasn’t stupid nor clueless, there were times when Jungshin surprised him at how observant he could be. Sometimes Minhyuk wondered if his childish attitude was only a facade to get close to everyone since he wasn’t their original bassist. Even if that’s the case, well it was working. That didn’t mean that Minhyuk didn’t trust him, they’ve been through a lot of things together, too much things, that it was impossible not to consider him as a brother.

But Minhyuk wasn’t ready to share it with anyone yet, he still wanted to keep it to his own happy land. So he decided to confuse him, “Probably.”

“Did it have something to do with a certain girl?”

 _Damn_.

Minhyuk’s widen grin was Jungshin’s only clue that he was on the right track. He placed the omelette on the plate before continuing his interrogation, “ _Wae_? Did you finally had a kiss scene with her?”

Minhyuk made an expression like he had been caught with his hand in the jar.  _That was_ so _close_.

“ _Heol_ ,” Jungshin threw the frying pan to the sink as he saw Minhyuk’s apparent blush, “Lucky jerk. How come you’ve always got a kissing scene with a pretty girl?  _Daebak_...  _uri Kang Minhyuk daebak!_ ”

Minhyuk did nothing to correct him, if only he knew what was actually happen, he would eat him alive. Minhyuk took the plate to the dining table, calling for his  _hyungs_  that breakfast was ready. But Jungshin took him off guard by shouting the news for everyone to hear, “ _Yah hyung_ , did you hear that?  _Uri Minhyukkie_  just had a kissing scene with Krystal Jung yesterday...”

Minhyuk snapped immediately, almost ready to threw the chopstick in his hand to Jungshin, “ _Yah Lee Jungshin!_ ”

Jungshin burst out laughing as he ran to the other side of the table, hiding behind Yonghwa’s back who was taking a seat right in front of Minhyuk. Even the ever ignorant Jonghyun snickered at Minhyuk as he took a seat beside him, “ _Aigoo_... no wonder he look so happy today...” Minhyuk was still throwing daggers at Jungshin, blatantly blaming him that everyone teasing him now, when Jonghyun  _hyung_  asked him again, “So how does it feel like? Kissing Krystal?”

“ _A-aniii_...” Minhyuk denied it quickly, “It wasn’t like that,  _hyung_... It was just a peck on the cheek. Not on the lips.”

_Well, at least that what’s happen on screen._

“Is that so?” Jonghyun teased him again.

“But the look on your face tells there’s something more...” Yonghwa  _hyung_  joined in, pointing a chopstick at Minhyuk’s face, “You know your face always given you away. You have to practice to control your expressions more, Minhyukkie, sooner or later someone would ask you about your relationship with Krystal, and if you didn’t do something about it, you might get yourself into trouble.”

“ _Ne, hyung_ , I’ll practice more,” Minhyuk bowed to Yong  _hyung_  like the obedient boy he was, “But really, it was only on the cheek,  _hyung_...”

“ _Yah_ , if you’re blushing that much with just a kiss on the cheek, I am seriously worried if you eventually had a real kissing scene with her,” Yonghwa added.

Jungshin, who apparently had taken a seat beside Yonghwa, nodded along in agreement, “Yong  _hyung_  was right, Minhyukkie. Please control your expression,” he laughed out loud as Minhyuk once again threw his fist out at him.

“Oh by the way, would you pass my greetings to Krystal, Minhyukkie?” Jonghyun spoke up again, “I’m a big fan of her.”

“ _Yah hyung_ , I thought you were trying to approach Yoona  _noona_ ,” Minhyuk asked him back.

“Don’t you know, Minhyukkie?” Yonghwa answered him instead, “He liked her because she look exactly like Yoona.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk...” Minhyuk shook his head in concern for his  _hyung_ , “You need to focus on one girl,  _hyung_.  _Noona_  might think that you’re a player.”

Jonghyun shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, “ _Wae_? Are you afraid I’m going to take her away from you?”

Minhyuk rolled his eyes, “It’s not that,  _hyung_... Soojung was mad at you when you said in an interview that she was pretty. She was scared that your fans would throw some tantrums at her. I’ve even heard that the SNSD’s members were acting weird at her since then.”

The other 3 members were genuinely surprised with the news. Jonghyun’s only response was, “ _Jinjja_? Wah... I really didn’t think it would go that far...”

“Soojung was very sensitive with this kind of thing,” Minhyuk explained, “So please,  _hyung_ , just stop it. I just don’t want her to feel uncomfortable around any of us.”

Jonghyun nudged him on the elbow, “Don’t take it seriously, Minhyukkie. I’m really just a fan of her, nothing more. Tell her, there’s nothing to worry about.”

 _I really hope so_. Jonghyun  _hyung_  was the most unpredictable one out of the four of them. No one knew what was going on in that head of his. Sometimes his words contradicted his actions, other times they were perfectly in sync. There’s only one thing that Minhyuk’s sure was constantly in Jonghyun’s mind: his guitar. While Yonghwa  _hyung_  would put everything into words, using a whole lot of different instruments he could get his hands on, Jonghyun  _hyung_  would stick into his guitar. Not even a pretty girl could take his attention away from it. For that reason, Minhyuk shook the thought of Jonghyun  _hyung_  might have had an interest for Soojung out of his mind.

They continued to chat idly with each other throughout their breakfast. And since Yonghwa’s filming had already ended, Minhyuk asked him to use his car for the rest of the week. He took his leave right after breakfast. He had planned on picking up a certain pretty girl this morning. Hopefully, she hadn’t left her home yet.

He jumped out of the car as he arrived at her front door. He’d given up on calling her out by phone, it was obvious that she was trying to avoid him again after last night. But hell, there’s no way he would let her get away easily this time. As far as he knew, he liked her, probably even more than he liked Lee Bona character, and if her kiss was any hint, it was most likely that the feeling was mutual. He knew exactly that they were threading a very dangerous line here, what with the filming had come to an end, but don’t call him Kang Minhyuk if he wasn’t persistent.

He pushed the ring button on her door once, and he could already heard someone rushing from the opposite side of the door. He braced himself, straightened his shoulders and put on his best smile, only to find Jessica behind the door.

He tried not to look so disappointed as Jessica tilted her head, absolutely confused to find him in front of her door in the morning, “Good morning,  _noona_ ,” he bowed to greet her with his most polite smile. “Ah, I believe I haven’t introduced myself properly yet. I’m Kang Minhyuk. I’m sorry if I disturbed you this early.”

“ _Oh_ , don’t be so stiff, Minhyukkie,” Jessica dismissed him with a wave of her hand, “Of course I’ve known you. C’mon in, have a seat,” she stepped aside to let him in.

“Oh, it’s okay,  _noona_ , I’m only here to pick Soojung up to the set. She... hadn’t leave yet, right?”

“No, no, no, she’s still having her breakfast inside. Just take a seat first Minhyukkie, I insist,” Jessica gave him that look that he couldn’t refuse. He bowed his thanks before he finally stepped inside, sitting on one of the couch that Jessica pointed at. “Wait here, okay? I’ll call her out for you. Would you like something to drink?”

“It’s okay,  _noona_ , thank you,” Minhyuk didn’t know that he would be this nervous to meet Soojung’s sister. For heaven’s sake, he had met her a thousand times before, hell, he’d known her far long before he even knew Soojung, but for some reason this time he felt the need to left a good impression. He let out a heavy sigh as Jessica just smile warmly at him and disappeared to another room.

“Jungie-yah... Minhyuk is here...” Jessica shouted at her sister, sneaking a playful smile as she saw Soojung almost choked on her breakfast.

Soojung took a big gulp of water before she could even process what she had heard, “Who?”

Jessica sat back and continued her interrupted meal, propping her chin with her elbow on the table, “Kang Minhyuk is here. He said he’s picking you up to the set.” Jessica took a bite on her salad, swallowed the food and seemed to think deeply, “He’s picking you up  _now_? I thought he’s only making a habit of sending you home for a few times.”

“Ahh...” Soojung racked her brain for a quick escape, “It’s not like that _, unnie_. Me and Minhyuk  _oppa_  are having a shoot for The Heirs parody today after filming, so he offered to pick me up to save time. I’m sorry,  _unnie_ , I must have been forget to tell you about that...”

“Is that so?” Jessica asked suspiciously.

“It’s only for today,” Soojung made a mental note to make sure of that.

“Okay then,” Jessica shrugged. She didn’t feel the need to push for some explanations from her sister, she truly believed that Soojung would tell her the whole story when she was ready. But it didn’t make the uneasiness she felt go away, Soojung is her sister afterall, and with their parents weren’t around that much, Jessica felt the need to look out for her. She was there when Soojung had her first crush on that boy from her high school, and another crush on one of EXO’s member—it ended before they could even started because apparently another boy in that group liked her, too, so Soojung need to stepped back since she didn’t want to be the reason if the boys had a fight. It was a hard time for her, but this is the first time Jessica felt the urge to be truly worried.

Jessica noticed that Soojung didn’t finish her breakfast and threw the rest of the food to the bin. In a rush she did the dishes, took her bag and kissed her sister on the cheek quickly, “I’m leaving,  _unnie_.”

“Hm. Be careful, Jungie-yah...”

Minhyuk immediately stood up as he saw Soojung appeared from the room Jessica had disappeared into. He smiled. She looked like she was about to snapped at the moment her eyes landed on him.

And he was right. “ _Oppa_!” She said in a hushed tone, looking back to make sure her sister didn’t following her out, “What the hell are you doing here?”

Minhyuk replied with an equal tone, “You would’ve known if you weren’t that busy and just pick up your phone, Jungie-yah...”

She hissed, completely irritated at him. She took his wrist harshly, dragging him out of her door to his car. She didn’t hear a single complain from his mouth, so she figured he must’ve been enjoying this.  _So annoying_. Sica  _unnie_  had been asking a lot of questions lately, and Soojung had deliberately avoiding her just in case she would ask on things that she didn’t have the answers yet. She need to take Minhyuk  _oppa_  out of here, as soon as possible.

Minhyuk pulled the car door open for her, and once again helped her to put the seatbelt on. Soojung couldn’t help but mumbling that it wasn’t necessary, only to have him kissing her to shut her up.

_Not again._

She was melting at the sudden contact. She cursed him for being such a good kisser, and damning her traitorous body that she couldn’t help but to return the kiss. It was quick, but it didn’t fail to take her breath away. And she held the urge to smack him on the head just to wipe that triumphant look on his face.

“ _Yah_! Are you crazy? Sica  _unnie_  might’ve seen that!”

Minhyuk didn’t say anything to defend himself, he just put another peck on her lips before he walked to the driver’s side, leaving her biting on her bottom lip, all hot and bothered.           

Apparently, it wasn’t his last attempt on stealing kisses from her. She was having a hard time on believing that the quiet-kind of shy-polite guy that she used to know was actually a sneaky-mischievous-resident bad boy. It was like he couldn’t get enough of her! He kissed her in one of the corner in the library scene where no one’s looking, he even managed to pull her into an empty changing room to have a passionate make out session there. If it wasn’t for Shin Hye  _unnie_  who was looking for her, she didn’t know what they would’ve done.

They were having lunch by now, and even then he kept his arm around her  _or_  on her all the time. Her head was spinning around, but she would be lying if she said that she didn’t like the way he made her feeling. The thought that it must’ve been killing him to restrain himself from going too far, especially in front of other people, made her heart fluttered. She giggled everytime he was about to do something overly affectionate, anxious with how people would think about them.

It was then when he thrust the palm of his hand forward in front of her face, Soojung could only blink at it.

“ _Mwo ya?_ ” She asked, confused with what he was asking.

He moved his fingers impatiently, “Give me back my childhood photo.”

A crinkle molded on her forehead, “I told you, Shin Hye  _unnie_  took it from me.”

“Don’t lie,” Minhyuk then wrapped his arm around her, sneaking his hand towards the pocket of her jacket, his lips moved ridiculously close to her ear, whispering, “Then what is it that I saw peeking out from your jacket?”  

Her hand was moving so fast to halt him, securing the photo from his wandering hand. Minhyuk grinned, he knew it. He had asked Shin Hye  _noona_  about it and she said that she had never asked for it. The only other person who had it around was Soojung. He grabbed her hand that was holding on to the photo, trying to pry it out from her, but she won’t relented.

“What are you two doing?” Shin Hye  _noona_  finally asked, making the other casts on the table looking at them curiously.

Minhyuk let her go for once, having caught in a funny situation with Soojung. He cleared his throat before answering, “She kept my photo as a hostage.”

The whole table snickered at this, barely holding their laugh to themselves.

“Good job, Soojung-ah,” said Shin Hye  _noona_ , encouraging the youngest girl in the group, “It was a good strategy from Lee Bona, you should learn from her.”

“I know, right?” Soojung replied happily, knowing that everyone were on her side. “ _Unnie_ , did you have any other embarrassing photos of him? Probably from your last drama together? You know... something like a sleeping Hyungsik  _oppa_?”

“ _Yah!_ ” Hyungsik ears perked up at this, “Why did you have to bring that up?”

“Hmm... I don’t know. Let me check that up once I have some free time. Okay?”

“ _Noona!_ ”

The girls made their deal despite Minhyuk’s protest. Shin Hye  _noona_  had completely went to the other side, forever making Soojung her favorite partner in crime. Knowing that he wouldn’t win her over, Minhyuk asked Soojung again, “Why did you want to keep it anyway, Soojungie? I have a lot of better photos then that, hm?”

Soojung curled her lips in distaste at him, “ _Shirreo_!” she said firmly. “I need something as a guarantee if you ever try to do something funny and...” she lowered her tone so that only him who could hear, “...as a payback for stealing my first kiss.”

“ _Mwo?!_ ” Minhyuk absolutely startled at her confession that he practically shouted out loud, “That was your first—AAKHH!”

Soojung stomped on his feet violently at the right time, sending him a death glare at how close he was about to reveal their secret. His head was bent over on her shoulder, only to have her shoved his head away to the table since everyone in the room now staring at them. He was hissing in pain, his eyes pleading at her to give him some kind of comfort, but the girl in question blatantly ignored him, her eyes looking around at anything but him.

He almost destroyed her careerr, their own career, there’s just no way she would let him to do that. Not after what she had been through to get this far; especially not when they were just about to begin what seemed like a long path way to success.

***

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, my mind was in a complete mess while writing this. I just had an interview today and another one on Saturday, so wish me luck! And congrats to our Chanyoung and Bona who won BEST COUPLE on DramaFever Award, teeheee! I wish someone would make a special fic about them to celebrate this, that would totally cheer me up from all this stress. I need a ChanBo fix desperately...


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:**   **Now own a thing.**

 

_Warning: This chapter contained a slight M-rated scene. Consider yourself warned. If you want to see the edited chapter, please go to<https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/680454/tangled-cnblue-fxband-kangminhyuk-krysmin-krystaljung-hyukstal-minhyukxkrystal>_ **  
**

***

Her back crashed to the door inside of the changing room with a loud thud. She was now cursing the pretty blue minidress she was wearing which had too much studs and beads on it that they pierced through her skin. Minhyuk _oppa_ was kissing her like a caveman, his lips travelled from her lips to her ear, down to her neck and keep on heading south to her bare shoulder. A breathy sigh escaped her lips as that talented lips of his had found her collarbone.

She clutched his hair tightly, her blurry eyes staring up at the ceiling, overwhelmed with his _almost_ desperate passion on her. His hands alternated on pinning her up against the wall, to wandering around her waist, up and down her back, while his fingertips dancing on her skin, carressing her neck, shoulder blades, down to her arms. It took only a few moment for him to shred that ugly greyish long coat, before his lips found hers again.

“ _Oppa_ ,” she protested heavily, “Be careful with the _dress_.”

She emphasized on the _dress_ because she thought it was really pretty, and of course, such a beautiful dress must have come with a pretty amount of money too, so she didn’t want to get sued for ruining it. It wasn’t hers anyway.

Minhyuk _oppa_ murmured his answer with his lips still doing wonders at the nape of her neck, “You called this excuse of clothing as a _dress_?” His arm that was around her waist pulled her body closer to him, and then he slammed her on the wall along with his body, making it harder for her to breathe. “I called it as a piece of crap,” he said with something that sounded exactly like a growl.

Well, she could only imagined that he must have been on a living hell to see her showed off so much skin for everyone to see. He had been on a sour mood these last few days because he couldn’t go the vacation with his band members due to the filming, and to top it off, he had to endure the night as he saw every single men in the room were practically drooling over her. Forget Shin Hye _noona_ who was the lead character and looked elegant and so mature with her red dress; Jung Soojung oozed a sexy look that attracted every male species in the room. He had to control himself from claiming her as his what with the cameras everywhere. As soon as their filming for Kim Tan’s party was over, he dragged her here to released his frustated thoughts on her.

Neither of them realized that someone had saw them went into the room together.

One of his hands now dangerously gripping on her exposed thigh, pulling it around his leg so that their hips created a delicious friction that made both of them yelped in unison. She tilted her head to give him an access to the top of her chest, and she was chanting “ _Oh, God..._ ” multiple times she lost count. She was trying hard to hold on to that consciousness left dangling on her fuzzy mind, hesitating between keeping him _there_ and the need to stop their little escapades.

It was only a few days since their first kiss; and she was still not quite sure on what they were exactly. A couple? A lover? He’d never asked her on a date. He’d never even said that he liked her. Despite his eagerness on kissing her, he had never talk about his feelings. It made her a bit insecure somehow, not knowing where is this going, but she was also scared that he might have back off if she ever suggested on labelling whatever it is they were doing.

He was busy nibbling on her lower collarbone. As if sensing her hesitation, he slowed down his movements, hands and lips trailing up to cradle her face lovingly before he stopped and looking at her in the eye. Her eyes reverted as she saw the questioning look in his eyes, face flushed as she finally found her voice, “I’m sorry, _oppa_ , I can’t—“

“Ssshhh...” he shushed her before she could finish, pulling her into his embrace as she buried her face on his neck. He carressed her hair and her back to soothe her, muttering with a low sigh in understanding, “It’s okay, Jungie-yah... It’s okay,” he felt her tightened grip on his shoulders, suddenly feeling guilty as he realized that her hands were shaking, hard. He put a deep kiss on her temple to comfort her, “I’m sorry... I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to- I-“ he took a deep breath before finishing what he was about to say, when she shook her had slowly.

“I know, _oppa_ , it’s not your fault...”

He found a need to took another deep breath, she’s founding it all wrong. So he caught both of her shaking hands in his, eyes looking at her intently as he kissed her hands firmly. She didn’t know how, but the simple act felt more intimate than their previous make out session, and the way he rubbed his thumb on the back of her hands made her heart thumped louder than ever.

She gulped when he said, “Don’t get me wrong, Jungie-yah. I like you. I _really_ , really like you I don’t know how to say this to you properly. I know we’ve started it off the wrong way, but believe me, _this_ was not my intention. I like you more than that. And I don’t want to scare you off, so _please_ , don’t be afraid to tell me what you were thinking, okay?”

He waited for her response, one of his hand moved to tuck her hair behind her ear so he could watch her more clearly. She gave him a slight nod before he continued, “I wanted to try on us. To see if this is working. I know, we probably won’t see each other as often after the filming, but Jung Soojung, would you like to give it a try and be my girlfriend?”

He held his breath as he waited for her answer. If only he knew how she was chanting ‘Yes’ a thousand times in her head, how hard it was to stopped herself from jumping up and down giddily like a little kid at his confession. She really wanted to jump on him and hug him and kiss him like they did earlier, but as shy as she was, she could only bit her bottom lip and smile before nodding in confirmation.

The heartthrobbing eye-smile of his appeared on his slightly disheveled look, now that she noticed how funny—and hot—his look with his messy hair, his tie dangling loosely around his neck and his white crisp shirt crumpled, a walking proof of her earlier work on him. She whispered a ‘Yes’ before he sealed their deal with a kiss.

***

The girl who saw them earlier watched carefully when she saw Kang Minhyuk emerged from the changing room alone. Well, at least he used the room to change his outfit, although she wondered if there was any other activities they did there. He was careful enough to close the door behind him, looking as calm and casual as he usually did as he scanned the hallway. The girl stepped back to the wall where she was hiding on another hallway, when she heard that he was actually walking on her way. She braced herself and started walking out of her hiding place, she even managed to greet him with a slight bow as she passed him, and he greeted her back without any suspicions.

She huffed in relieve, not knowing why it was her who was nervous that he might have caught her when it was him who had a secret. A lot of people had been wondering if the second lead couple was a real thing, but both of them had deny it countless times that they weren’t and eventually people believed them despite the obvious signs and hints they left around the set. She actually didn’t quite believe her own eyes when she saw them walking hand in hand, not that she had been used to see them done that so many times before, but the way they behaved like they were such in a rush was odd. And her suspicions were hightened when they didn’t come out for about 20 minutes. She tried to opened the door once, only to find it was locked from the inside, and the fact that she couldn’t hear a single sound except for a few thuds on the door make her even more curious.

Krystal came out a few minutes later with her own clothes, right when the girl was about to pass the changing room. Krystal recognized her as one of the stylish team then bowed politely.

“Oh, _unnie_ ,” Krystal said to the girl, “I’ve put the blue dress on the very front of the hanging rack, along with the shoes.”

“ _Ne_ , Krystal- _ssi_ , I’ll check on it later.”

“ _Ne_...” Krystal bowed once again before she left to the same direction as Kang Minhyuk earlier.

The girl went inside the changing room carefully, and found no one else was there. She sighed, it’s too bad that the room didn’t have any CCTV for privacy reasons, no one would believe her even if she told everyone about what she had seen...

***

Finally, the filming of The Heirs had come to an end. Everyone clapping and congratulating each other to celebrate their hard work for the past months. The actors and actresses gathered around by gender, joking with one another, laughing as they reminisced their experience and journey together. The atmosphere was a mixture of joy, relieve, and of course, sadness. Sad because they’ve been so used to be together and that now they have to separate ways.

“Ahh... I’m really going to miss you all, guys...” Park Shin Hye exclaimed to the girls, gesturing to make a group hug. “It was so fun to have most of the cast with the same age, it really feels like high school all over again...” she said, her eyes brimming on the verge of tears.

“ _Unnie_... don’t make me cry,” Soojung gave her a personal hug which made the older girl giggle at her cute antics.

“Soojung- _ah_ , don’t be a stranger, okay?” Soojung nodded as they released their hug and Shin Hye turned to Kim Jiwon to give her a hug. “You too, Jiwon- _ah_... Don’t hesitate to call me if you need any help, _oh_?”

“ _Ne_ , _unnie_ ,” Jiwon smiled at the kind-hearted girl who she considered as her own sister, along with Soojung. “Don’t cry, who knew maybe next time we could meet again in another drama?”

“Fingers-cross?” Soojung inquired, and the other girls followed suit.

Meanwhile, the actors were laughing out loud at the story that Kim Woobin and Park Hyungsik shared. They were having a fit as Lee Minho challenged them on who can pull the best _aegyo_. Park Hyungsik won without a doubt, but Kim Woobin shameless tries never failed to make everyone who see it burst into laugh.

“ _Aisshh_... this is so unfair...” Woobin voiced his objection. Hyungsik had been his best buddy both on-and-off screen, the rumors that they hit it off was only second with Minhyuk-Krystal’s dating rumors. “It’s been so long since I had this much fun while filming.”

Lee Minho cut him off, “ _Yah_ , you always had a role as a high school boy. You _always_ had fun while filming.”

Woobin pursed his lips, then nodded in agreement, “True. But none of them was as fun as you guys. Ahh... I’m going to miss teasing each and every one of you, especially Hyungsik, Minhyuk, and Krystal,” he stated, wiggling his thick eyebrows suggestively.

“ _Yah, oppa_! Did you just compare me with Minhyuk and Krystal?” Hyungsik pouted at the older guy, while Woobin shoved his head away at his jokes. Having been used to that kind of treatment, Hyungsik jutted his lower lips even more.

“ _Aiishh, jinjja_ , this guy really... tsk, tsk, tsk,” Woobin then ignored the sulking Hyungsik alone, before turned to Kang Minhyuk and Kang Haneul. “Hhh... so Minho _hyung_ got a kiss, Kang Haneul got a kiss, even _uri_ Minhyukkie got a kiss. Am I the only guy who didn’t get a kiss, again?”

“Neither do I,” Hyungsik quipped.

“I’m not asking you,” Woobin replied curtly, not even bothered to glance at him.

“I think Choi Jin Hyuk ­ _hyung_ also didn’t get any,” Kang Haneul reasoned to him.

“He doesn’t count,” Woobin deflected. “Well at least, he got a girl to be paired up with, while I’m, I’m stuck with this kid from beginning to end,” he corrected, regarding Hyungsik with his signature glare.

“Don’t be so disappointed, _hyung_ ,” Minhyuk tried to cheer him up, “You’re such a great actor. Sooner or later, a packed of beautiful girls would line up to have a kissing scene with you.”

“ _Geude_?” Woobin asked him back sarcastically, “Can I have Krystal in the line, too?”

“ _Ahhh_...” Minhyuk chuckled at his blatant attempt to get a reaction like he did to Hyungsik not so long ago, but Minhyuk wouldn’t fall to the same hole twice, “That was up to her, not me.”

Woobin and Hyungsik exchanging knowing looks at Minhyuk’s diplomatic answer, obviously doubting if he meant what he was saying. Minhyuk bent his head in shame, knowing fully well what they were implying. He was thankful that none of them had told anyone else about the little incident at the campsite, if only they knew that he was actually dating Soojung... Minhyuk was sure he would never see another day without them teasing him mercilessly.

“What is it?” Lee Minho looking back and forth at the guys, completely confused, “Did I miss something?”

“ _Aniii..._!” The guys answered in unison that only made him even more curious.

“ _Wae_? What is it?” Kang Haneul, who was also left not knowing anything, trying to connected the dots and asked to Minhyuk, “Is there something going on between Minhyuk and Krystal?”

“I’m still curious about that, too...” Woobin smirked.

Minhyuk’s face turned pale like a deer caught in the spotlight, as all the other guys now fixed at him, demanding for an answer.

“ _Aniii_...” Minhyuk lied. He had to. His relationship with Soojung was still on its early stage and so fragile that he didn’t want to share it with anyone yet until he was sure that it would last. Soojung’s probable overreaction didn’t help either, there’s always a possibility that she would ran away from him just because she was too scared of the publicity.

“Is that true?” Hyungsik lead him on. “I’ve heard that the kissing scene wasn’t her first kiss after all. I _really_ wonder who is that lucky guy...”

“I-it’s not me! I don’t know either. She won’t tell me,” Minhyuk desperately trying to find an escape out of this. He was really hoping that they couldn’t see the truth right through his eyes.

“Minhyuk- _ah_ , Hyungsik had never mentioned that it was you... could it be...” Haneul squinted his eyes at him.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk... _Yah,_ Kang Minhyuk! I’d never thought you had it in you...” Lee Minho tilted his head, cornering the younger guy along with the others.

“ _A-anii... Hyung_... There’s really nothing... Why don’t you believe me?”

Woobin couldn’t help it anymore as he finally laugh, “Minhyukkie, you are _too_ easy. That’s why we love to tease you so much because you’re getting nervous so easily. Hahahaha...” he laughed out loud as Hyungsik gave him a high-five.

Minhyuk could only released a sigh of relief. To be honest, he was actually glad that the filming finally over. That meant less people to tease him off, he had enough people who did that in his company. If only they know the truth...

***

The wrap-up party held later that night, with the whole crew and cast packed up in a restaurant they had rented specially for the occasion. Minhyuk and Soojung had spent the whole afternoon after their last scene together driving around the town. He then dropped her off to the f(x)’s dorm where her manager had been waiting for her while Minhyuk returned Yong _hyung’_ s car to the dorm, and he also would go to the party with his own manager. The couple had agreed on this as to not raised any further suspicions. Besides, Minhyuk would have a fan meeting after the party, so it would be best for them to arrived separately.

Soojung arrived first and she waved on him to sit beside her on one of the corner tables that she had reserved for them. She was careful on picking the table that was far away from anyone’s sight. She’s also intentionally avoiding to sit anywhere near the lead actors, since she knew that they would be the center of the attention tonight. All it ever did to her was teasing her; to be exact, she had had enough of it.

“Hey,” Minhyuk _oppa_ greeted her with that heart-warming smile of his, taking a seat right beside her. She thought that after her doubts about his feelings on her had been cleared, it would be impossible for her feelings to grow. Apparently, she was wrong. Ever since they’re officially dating, even a mere sight of him could make her heart beats uncontrolably.  

He scooted closer to her, and she shivered at their immediate physical contact. People were filling in, foods and drinks were served and as soon as the director finished his speech on thanking everyone for their great teamwork, everyone started to digging in. Soojung had long pass the pretense when it comes to eat, especially meats; everyone already knew that she eats a _lot_. So it wasn’t a surprise when she was the one who put the meats on the grill eagerly.

Soojung served the perfectly cooked meats to Minhyuk _oppa_ , while Minhyuk wrapped the meats then feed her and himself alternatively. Choi Jin Hyuk _oppa_ and Kang Haneul _oppa_ sat right in front of them and even though they were used to with them being so lovey-dovey, they were still amazed with how comfortable the couple were with each other.

“ _Hyung_ ,” Kang Haneul said to Choi Jin Hyuk who was gaping at the couple, “Don’t you feel like a third wheel here?”

“ _Oh_ ,” replied the other guy shortly. He scoffed lightly, but the couple went on like they didn’t heard anything. “ _Yah_... Did you really have to do that? The filming had ended, so why the hell did you have to keep the act?”

Soojung then looked at him blankly, tilting her head with her mouth chewing on the delicious meal, “Do you want some, _oppa_?” She completely disregarded his comment earlier, making another wrap to offer to him instead. “It was really good, _oppa_ , here.”

“You should try it, _hyung_ ,” Minhyuk even had the guts to urge him on, “Soojungie really knows how to make a perfectly cooked meats.”

Unbelievable. Choi Jin Hyuk opened his mouth to say something to them, but thought better of it. He might not have a lot of scenes with the couple, but who didn’t know about them, really? In all his experiences, most people, especially ones who get teased a lot like they had, would try to keep a distance once the rumours spread out. It would resulted in an awkward situation where it would show on-screen, and eventually people would forget about them. But that’s not the case with this couple. It was almost seemed like they didn’t care what other people said about them, they’d never do anything about it. If it was possible, they were actually enjoying each other company too much that it seemed like they did it on purpose to mocked everyone who teased them, just so that people would get more annoyed and jealoused with how close they were. It’s a reversed psychology, Choi Jin Hyuk knew it all too well that if he said anything more, they would probably took the public display of affection to a whole new level that in the end it was him who would feel uncomfortable. He sighed in defeat and finally took the offered meat wrap from Soojung, while the girl proceed to make another one for Kang Haneul. Minhyuk was watching the older guys as they eat, waiting for their response.

“How was it? It’s really good, right?” Minhyuk asked, obviously proud with his girlfriend skill.

Kang Haneul nodded, lifting his thumbs up while he hummed as he clearly enjoyed the meat. Choi Jin Hyuk muttered something incomprehensible, but by the look of it, he was enjoying it, too. Minhyuk then served them with more meats, hoping that it would be enough to bribe them and shut them out. Soojung knew what Minhyuk _oppa_ was trying to do, so she poured some drinks for the older _oppas_ in order to get some peace through the night.

Their plan seemed to work as they didn’t hear any complains from them anymore.

A couple of hours later, the restaurant were getting noisy as more and more people were getting drunk. There were shouts and howling in the middle of the room, and Soojung couldn’t careless about what were happening around her. Soojung wasn’t drunk anyway, neither she nor Minhyuk _oppa_ had even touched their drinks. She was afraid that she would say something that would revealed her relationship with Minhyuk _oppa_ if she was drunk, while Minhyuk _oppa_ reasoned that he needed to attend the fan meeting after this¸ and it wouldn’t be a good idea if he appeared drunk at the event.

His phone vibrated from one of the pocket in pants. He fished the phone out, seeing that his manager had texted him that it was time to go. Soojung peeked through his shoulder, smiling a bit as she saw their selca as his phone screen—not the ones from the filming, but the ones they took privately and kept for their personal secret, she had tons of it in her own phone—but the smile vanished as she read the text.

Her eyes shifted to look up at her boyfriend, linking her arms to his as if she wouldn’t let him go, “Did you really have to go?”

Minhyuk gave her a sad smile, he also felt reluctant to go because this is probably the last time they could be seen together without raising any suspicions. This is the last time they could freely act as a couple in front of everyone, where they didn’t need to be afraid if any scandal would break-out if they were too close, where they could use Yoon Chan Young and Lee Bona as an excuse. Being a couple on-screen when you were really not was easy; but try to act as if they were nothing in real life? Well, that would be hard. Everything would went down hill from now on.

He held a reassuring hand on hers, trying to convinced her that it would be okay. That _they_ would be okay. He really wanted to give her a kiss, even if it was just on her forehead or her hands, but that would be too risky. So he settled on rubbing his thumb at the back of her hand, hoping it would be enough to soothe her for a while.

His phone vibrated again, a sign that his manager and the other members had been arrived to pick him up, and he could feel her grip on him tightened. With a heavy sigh, and a heavier heart, he released his arm from her death grip, whispering ‘I’ll see you soon, okay?’, before he got up and bid his goodbye to everyone around them. Soojung watched him helplessly as he walked over to the way out, taking time to greet the director, scriptwriter, and the older cast briefly, and finally disappeared behind the doors.

***

     

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Why do I feel like crying while writing this?  
> If you think that the story was over since the filming had ended, well, worry not.   
> The drama were just about to begin.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Not owning a thing.**

***

‘Soon’ couldn’t get faster enough both for Soojung and Minhyuk.

The first week after they’re agreed on dating were filled with a whole lot of practicing and composing new songs for Minhyuk, while Soojung was scheduled to attend a couple of fansign and doing some commercials as well as preparing the Christmas’s concert along with her band members and EXO. It was impossible to meet each other; it already took a lot of effort for them to stay in touch, settling themselves only with a few messages and late night calls. Both of them fully aware that this what was expected from their relationship, that this isn’t gonna be easy, especially for Soojung since this is her first try at being in a relationship with anyone.

Every night she waited patiently by her phone, jumped with a little too much glee everytime the phone ringed, wondering if it was him. It’s a good thing that now Minhyuk _oppa_ had arranged to keep his phone on during practice—he had insisted that there’s no point of turning it on if he couldn’t receive any message/call anyway—but she had successfully ‘convinced’ him otherwise.

 

 _“—didn’t you have some break time during practice?” She yelled through the phone, completely annoyed after she couldn’t reach him for 12 hours straight. “You could’ve been thirsty. You could’ve texted me while drinking. Even a simple ‘hey’ would do. Is it so hard to do that?!_ ”

 

She didn’t know how much damage she had on his concentration, how he would miss a note everytime his phone vibrated. He wondered if she would feel guilty if she knew how often he get scolded by Yong _hyung_ or received deathly glares from Jonghyun _hyung_ and questioning stares from Jungshin ever since then, but he decided not to tell her about it. He was too afraid that she would cut him off completely and they would break up soon due to the lack of communication.

That was their first quarrel as a real couple. He knew that she was only missing him; he missed her, too. He missed her so bad, and the fact that she missed him _that_ much that she couldn’t accept the fact if she didn’t hear any news from him for a few hours, greatly warmed his heart.

As for now, he kept his phone on a silent mode, unvibrated and away from anyone’s sight so no one would get bothered if the phone ever blinked, only checking on it if he was on a break and replying her texts once in a while.

He knew that it wouldn’t be enough. Someday they would fight over who should’ve call first, who should take the initiative on checking out on the other, who is busier between the two of them. That, or one of them would get tired of trying then eventually, they would estranged themselves and had their own separated ways. At least, that was what he had learnt from his past experience with his long time ex-girlfriend.

He was so young back then. She was his classmate on the first year of high school and he had a huge crush on her ever since, but he only got the courage to ask her out when they became a senior 2 years later. They were so happy; she made him so happy that he thought it would last forever. How could he not? She loved everything about him, from baseball to become a drummer, she had supported him to pursue his dream. Even after high school, when she decided to go to college, she was the one who encouraged him to go to Japan along with his band members while his own family insisted that he should stay and went to law school (which was his other dream) or helping his father run their family restaurant.

Thinking back to that time, he realized now that he was so stupid.

Just because she’s giving him her full support to go a million miles away from her, didn’t mean that she would wait for him forever. His first years with CNBLUE in Japan was tough; all work and no money at all that sometimes they need to starve themselves. He couldn’t think of ways to contact her; he was too busy to stay alive. Besides, he had too much pride to let her know how hard his life had been and he didn’t want her to worry about him. He was so naive, so secure that their love was so strong that it would last passed the time and spaces and even throughout the oceans. He worked hard everyday with the thoughts of her, determined that he didn’t want to let her down, that he would be back to Korea as a successful band. He could already imagined her bright smile welcoming him as he came home, along with his family who finally admitted that he had made them proud.

So imagine how heartbroken he was when he did return, only to find out that she was breaking up with him. She said that it was all his fault, he had never call her, or left her a message on how she could contact him, if she could get his address so she could go to visit him and see how he was doing there. Not even once. She had boldly taking a risk to ask his family, who were all putting the blame on her at his own decision, saying that that was the consequences of sending their son away. That she should’ve convinced him to stay. That she need to suffer along with them. Apparently, Minhyuk had also abandoned his family; he was too proud of himself that he didn’t want to hear them saying ‘I told you so’, determined that he would prove them wrong. His agency could do nothing about it though, Minhyuk wasn’t the only one who had these kind of issue, all of the band members did actually, so they were pretty concerned about it. But they thought that it was probably for the best. Being away from their loved ones meant less distractions and extra motivation for them to work harder and harder.

It took months for him to finally accepting the ugly truth that his girlfriend, his reason to survive, his first love, had truly broken things off with him. He tried to reason with her endlessly, explaining to her a million times how hard it was for him to be away from her. Of how much he missed her everyday of every single second of his life. Begging for her forgiveness. He thought she would understand. He was a hundred percent sure that if he kept on trying, eventually she would give him a second chance. She never did.

It was the darkest days of his life. Even though it was a relief that he had his family back, but it wasn’t enough to cheer him up out of his very first painful broken heart. No one had ever saw him so broken; the ever smiling boy had long gone. He often locked himself in his room, shutting everyone out. Sometimes he would come to the studio to practice for their showcase, making everyone thought that he would come to his senses eventually, only then he would poured his heart out to his drums that it was painful for anyone to hear. He still wouldn’t talk, though. One day he spent the night in the studio, beating his drums mercilessly all night long. The next morning his _hyungs_ found him laid motionless on the floor, his eyes staring up at the ceiling blankly, and his drums scattered around in a mess, broken and beaten up so badly, just like its owner.

He finally lost it.

It was Jung Yonghwa who had come to his rescue and finally able to talk him out of it. That was the first time he saw the ever smiling _maknae_ crying so hard over his problems. Minhyuk had not only lose a lover, but he also had lose a reason to believe to the point that he was about to given up on his dream, willing to throw away his hard work after all this years. Jonghyun _hyung_ ,who was the band leader at the time, was so angry at Minhyuk. They had just lost their bassist that year, their band would have fallen apart if they lose a drummer, too.

Minhyuk’s _noona_ then came to take him back to their parent’s home. She insisted despite his agency protests that her brother need some time alone to clear his mind out. Minhyuk agreed with her, thinking that his sister probably would pull out all the guns to persuade him to join the family business. He didn’t mind it then, but once again, he was wrong.

 

_“Yah, Kang Minhyuk! Are you really completely lost your mind, right now?”_

_He thought that she would sweet talk him once they arrived home, locking him in the room like some kind of prisoner and feed him with her delicious homemade food that he missed so much, comforting him with so much affection that he would throw up on normal days. They used to be so close back then, bickering with each other all the time. But he always knew that his sister loves him so much. And it wasn’t a normal day for him, and he wanted her to treat him like a spoilt boy that he was, and he missed her so much that he was on the verge of tears to hear her yelling at him._

_His sister let out a heavy sigh, he knew that she never last long whenever he pulled out that puppy-eyes look. Thank God some things just never change. He was crying once again on her shoulder when she hugged her long lost little brother tight._

_He clutched on her sister shirt, chanting ‘I’m_ so _sorry,_ noona _...’ from the bottom of his heart. He apologized for cutting her out of his life, for making her worry about him, for not listening to her, for hurting her and their parents, for being an ungrateful bastard. He knew now that unlike his girlfriend,_ ex _-girlfriend, his sister would understand and forgive him no matter what._

 _He wiped his tears with his own hands, kind of embarrassed that he was crying like a baby boy in front of his sister, but_ damn _that just felt so good. His sister complained when she noticed that he had make her shirt wet with his tears and snot, even the simple act could make him bursting out in tears and laugh for the first time ever, relieved that her sister could act like he had never left at all. She cupped his face in the palm of her hands, only then she saw how much he had changed._

 _“_ Aigoo _... look at my lovely little brother. You’ve grown up so much! Look how tall you are,” Another smile came out from his lips, as she told him to take a sit on his own bed. “So... how was Japan? I’ve heard they give you hell back there. Did you eat well? You looked even more thin than the last time I saw you.”_

_He pressed his lips together from smiling too much, his sister always acted like a second mom to him, only cooler. She scolded him like their parents did, but then she would come to his room later to have a heart-to-heart conversation and make sure that he understood why did they do that. He told her everything he went through in Japan. Everything. He knew he could trust her more than anything in the world, and he needed her honest opinion on what he should do next._

_“Are you sure you wanted to give up on your dream just because of_ her _?” She emphasized ‘her’ with so much hate that he cringed; she never liked his ex-girlfriend before. He knew she only tolerated her because he seemed so happy with her. “You’ve been dreaming of it since you were a baby.”_

_Minhyuk pursed his lips, contemplating what she had said. It was true, his dream of being a drummer had started long before he met her. But she was the reason he truly believe that he could do it. Now that she was gone, what was the point of chasing it anymore?_

_“_ Noona _, I thought you didn’t want me to become a drummer. Now what is this?”_

_She hit his head hard with her knuckles, “Yah! That was because I didn’t know how serious you were. I thought it was only a hobby for you, just like baseball. Besides, you have so much better choices back then. Do you really think you can go back just like that, now?! Wake up, Minhyukkie, wake up!”_

_“So what should I do, now?”_

_“Think about it carefully. What is it that you really wanted to do. If you wanted to be a drummer, we will support you now. If you wanted to go to law school or go to college,_ we _will support you.” Minhyuk knew that what she implied by ‘we’ were their parents. His sister continued before she left him on his own, “Just make sure that this time, whatever you choose is for your own happiness. Not for someone else’s._ Arahsseo _?!”_

 _He nodded, “_ Ne. Noona... gomawo... _You really are the best.”_

_She smiled that sisterly smile she rarely gave to him, “Get some rest, okay? And go downstairs to have dinner with Mom and Dad if you’re ready. I’ll make some of your favourite foods.”_

 

It took a couple of weeks for him to finalized his decision, but it took a few years later for him to finally moved on from his first love. Sometimes, he still wondered about her, if she ever regret it that she had broke him up, now that he was becoming one of the best Korean rock band in the country, just like what she had always imagined. But as the time passed by, he realized that he shouldn’t resent her for their failed relationship. If anything, he should’ve thanked her instead. Thanks to her, he truly believed that it was worth it to pursue his dream no matter how hard it was. Thanks to her, he got his family back, he even got a second family who loves him just as much. Thanks to her, he realized that you can’t always get what you want. He had lost her, but now he was having the best time of his life. Thanks to her, he knew now that love and trust didn’t come at their own accord, you need to earn it, to fight for it. And thanks to her, he learnt that maintaining a relationship required a hard work from both parties, and he swore that he won’t make the same mistake twice. So for that, he truly wished that she was happy, whereever she was.

***

He dialed her number as soon as he laid himself on his bed, one of his arm supported the back of his head. It was 1 a.m. in the morning, and he was tired, but he missed her so bad that he didn’t care if she would only yelling at him for calling her at this ungodly hour. It’s the only time they knew that their significant other would be free.

It only took two rings for her to answer his call. _See?_ Annoyed or not, he knew that she missed him just as much.

“ _Oppa_ ,” she greeted him with her hoarse voice, “What time is it?”

He smiled as he saw her sleepy face, yawning. Clearly she hadn’t realize that it was a video call as she attached her phone to her ear, “Hello, sweetheart. I’m sorry for calling you this late. Did you fallen asleep already?”

Soojung hummed lazily, still caught in between her dreamland and reality.

“Now can I see your pretty face? All I can see is your ear from here...”

That made her woke up in an instant. She gaped as she saw Minhyuk _oppa_ waving his hand on her phone screen. She threw her phone and went to see her reflection in the mirror, there’s just no way she would let him saw her bleary eyes and her hair in a mess. _Aisshh...why did he video call her at this rate?_

“ _Yah_ , what are you doing? I’m calling you to talk to you, not to your bed.”

A few seconds later, he saw her appeared on his phone screen, face washed, hair combed, and a smile plastered on her face. “ _Annyeong, oppa_. Did you just come home from practice?”

He chuckled at her behaviour, “What is this? You look prettier with your bed hair earlier. Go back to sleep, I’ll call you again later.”

She pursed her lips at him, “I won’t pick up your phone if you do that.” But then she laid herself on her bed, facing sideways, tucking her other hand under her cheek on the pillow. He followed her so that they looked like facing each other on the bed, even though in reality, they were separated miles away. “Happy now?”

“Hm. How was your practice for Christmas’ concert? You didn’t cheat on me with those EXO members, aren’t you?”

Soojung scoffed at his accusation, “I probably would if you didn’t show up in a week.”

“ _Yah_ , is that a threat? I’m going to your house right now if you keep on saying that.”

She giggled at how easy it was to make him jealous, “Aren’t you tired, _oppa_? You didn’t have to call me every night if you were so tired, I don’t want you to wake up late the next morning because of me...”

“Woah, aren’t you the one who told me to call you at least once everyday?”

“ _Ne_. But not this late. I need my beauty sleep...”

“But I couldn’t sleep without hearing your voice...”

He smiled as he heard her tingling laugh at his cheesy line, “ _Yah oppa!_ Did you throw that line to every girl you like? Tsk... so annoying...”

“No, not at every girl. Just you, Jungie- _yah_...” Now he was telling the truth. Normally, he would get so red in the face everytime he said those cheesy lines even just for a show. But he liked her reaction, so he couldn’t help but make a habit of it. Only with her.

“By the way, _oppa_ , when are you going to Japan? I thought you’re going to spend your Christmas there?”

“Hm, I’m going the day after tomorrow and won’t be back after Christmas. _Wae_? Do you want to meet up?”

“I really want to, but I can’t...” Soojung sulked like a little kid, pouting her lips as she said so. Ugh, wrong move, Jungie- _yah_... Looking at her lips only making him missed her more. “We still have some practice for the concert, and then fitting outfit for the concert _and_ SBS Entertainment Awards, and rehearsal for presenting the awards, and more practice at the studio for SM The Ballad.”

“ _Heol_. My girlfriend is so busy... then how am I going to take you out on a date?”

She made a squeaked sound like she was about to cry at the mention of a ‘date’, “Don’t give me any false hope, _oppa_ , it wasn’t like you’re not as busy as I am...”

Both of them released a heavy sigh as they realized that this is harder than they thought, “ _Nan ottoke_? But I really miss you, Jungie- _yah_...”

“ _Na do..._ ”

They talked some more until eventually he could see her fell asleep in the middle of their conversation. He rubbed his phone screen, wishing that he could be on the other side of the screen and rubbed his thumb on her smooth skin, watching her sleep. His thumb moved to her lips, barely resisting the urge to kiss his phone and suddenly feel so pathetic. He did kiss it anyway, before he ended the call and his phone turned back into a blank black screen.

***

It was Christmas eve and Soojung couldn’t stand on this stage any longer. She was in a bad mood because everyone seemed like enjoying themselves with their lovers, while she was here to entertain them and her boyfriend was out there to do the exact same thing. Not to mention that Victoria, Sulli, and Luna had their own date after this concert; even Amber had to attend this private party with the other idols. She had kindly asked her to come with her though, but Soojung didn’t feel like partying tonight.

She tried to stand next to Amber as the concert came to an end, but the boyish girl was too absorbed in the festivity that she didn’t notice how miserable Soojung was she could barely kept a happy face to the fans. She had avoided any interaction with any of the EXO boys, keeping her distance by standing on the very end far far away from them. Suddenly, someone popped out right beside her. It was Sehun.

Soojung immediately flipped her head to him, pointing to his group in annoyance, “What are you doing here? Go back to your _hyungs_.”

Sehun blinked at her, shocked that she was practically kicking him out of her sight just like that. He bowed to her awkwardly and ran to his group; you don’t want to mess with a bad mood Soojung.

Soojung finally gave up on following Amber around, settled to walk around by herself. _When will this finally be over?_ _How many times that they need to bow off, really?_ Sulli tried to talk to her, she managed to make her smile a few times, but it was short-lived. Her mood was significantly and dangerously getting lower and lower by each second. She really wanted to go home and curled herself in her bed. A call from her boyfriend would probably lifted her mood a bit, but she buried the thought deeply because that was very unlikely.

Soojung was aware that someone was walking behind her, and she shuddered at the thought that she knew it was _him_ even without looking. She pursed her lips in annoyance, _his_ presence was all around her all the time. She knew that _he_ wanted to talk to her, but she didn’t give _him_ any chance. She didn’t even let her eyes glanced his way, she kept _him_ on her radar just so that she could walk away before _he_ could even get anywhere near her. But the boy was relentless, _he_ followed her around that she started to feel suffocated.

_Gosh! As if this night couldn’t get any worse. Why didn’t he gave up already? Didn’t he know that she was taken now?_

_Oh, great, right, no one knew you were dating Kang Minhyuk, Jung Soojung_.

Soojung saw that Kai was talking to Vic _eomma_ , and just by the look of it, she knew that he was talking about _her_. _Ugh!_ Victoria glanced her way, but Soojung was already stormed off to the other way, leaving everyone else’s behind. The EXO boys following her lead, when suddenly Vic _eomma_ linked her arms with a made up sing-song tone that she hated so much.

“Soojungiee~~~” Victoria tilted her head to look at her baby _maknae_ , “Are you alright? The boys said that you’re exceptionally _cold_ towards them tonight. Did someone bothering you again?”

Soojung rolled her eyes at her leader, it wasn’t like she wanted to disrespect her, but _really_? Vic _eomma_ knew who was the boy who was always bothering her. When she was in a good mood, she would put on a fake smile to _him_ , acting like she wasn’t as annoyed. But to be honest, all she wanted was for _him_ to leave her alone. She didn’t like _him_ that way, and she had told _him_ that directly multiple times, but the message won’t get passed his thick skull into his brain. She was tired of it. She was tired of explaining things to _him_. She was tired of avoiding _him_ just so that _he_ didn’t get the wrong message. She was tired being avoided by Kai, just because he didn’t want to hurt his _hyung_ ’s feeling, Suho.

“Just endure it for a little bit longer, would you, Soojungie? After this, you could ignore him all you want for the next few days. So, give me a smile?” Victoria blinked her eyes rapidly to Soojung, and she gave her the best half-hearted smile she could muster up at the time.

Finally, the concert was over. She was the first one to get her clothes change, eager to get out of there as soon as possible. Sica _unnie_ had promised to pick her up after the concert—she had heard that her sister was going out with the CEO’s son recently, but Soojung hadn’t find some way to ask her without her sister asking her back about her relationship with Minhyuk _oppa_. She was about to call her sister in the hallway, when someone call out her name.

She barely hold herself from banging her head on the wall. _God, why did you do this to me?_

Soojung braced herself before she turned around to find Suho _oppa_ smiling brightly at her. She tried to reply his smile, really, but she couldn’t. Instead, she bowed politely to him before she folded her arms in front of her chest, her right foot tapped impatiently on the floor.

“Soojung-ah, are you going home already? Don’t you want to go to the after party? It’s Christmas, we should’ve have fun.”

“Ahh... no _oppa_. I’m really tired now. I have enough fun for today,” she refused him politely.

But of course, he wouldn’t back down that easily, “ _Geude?_ Then... do you need a ride home? I happen to brought a car tonight so—“

“Oh, it’s okay, _oppa_. Sica _unnie_ was already on her way here to pick me up. Thank you for the offer, anyway.”

He was about to say something more when her phone suddenly ringed. It was Sica _unnie_. She was almost jumped excitedly at how great her sister timing was. Soojung showed her phone screen to Suho _oppa_ , “See? Sica _unnie_ must have arrived. I’m sorry, _oppa_ , but I have to leave now. See you later.”

She bowed once again to the EXO leader before she took her leave. _Saved by the bell_. She should give her sister a big thank you gift for this. She answered her phone, exclaiming happily so everyone in the vicinity could hear her, “Sica _unnie_! Where are you now?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Jungie- _yah_...” Soojung slowed down a bit as she heard her sister tone. _Uh-oh, this is not good_. She tried to keep the happy act until she was out of his sight, walking a bit faster to get through the door. “I’m really, really sorry. I can’t pick you up right now, my car broke down suddenly and I need to take it to the repair shop immediately.”

“ _Omo!_ Are you okay, _unnie_? Then how are you going to come back home without your car?”

“Don’t worry about me, I have some friends to pick me up. But then, how about you? You could ask your manager to take you home, could you?”

Soojung hesitated. There’s just no way she would go back there and taking a risk of meeting Suho _oppa_ again. He would insisted that he take her home. Even though it was a better option than hailing a taxi alone this late at night, but the thing is, she didn’t trust him at all. The last time she had taken his offer, he ended up driving her around the city for 2 hours, despite her protest. That was probably the most awkward night in her life, and she didn’t need a repeated performance occured tonight.

She decided to call her manager out instead of going back to f(x)’s changing room. She pressed the speed dial button to her manager on her phone, when suddenly someone muffled her mouth and nose from behind.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Omo! Who was it?! Krystal is in da-da-da-danger, pinocchio... 
> 
> Did anyone cry at the first part of this chapter? Because I did. *I was so lame* Minhyuk's first love story was based on his past interviews, I wonder who his ex was, since he seemed so deeply in love with her. Have you watched one of the interview where Yonghwa said that he didn't want to introduce his sister to Minhyuk, because he was afraid that Minhyuk couldn't get over her if they would break up. 
> 
> And the Christmas concert scene was based on this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2HnYPss7_o 
> 
> So sorry for any of EXO fans out there, I didn't mean to make them looked bad, really. I have to admit that I wasn't an EXO fans, but I wasn't their haters, either. I just simply didn't want to get obsessed over another boyband, CNBLUE had done enough damage to me already. Peace out ^_^v


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I still own nothing.**

***

**Tangled Ch 13**

 

Kai followed her behind right after Suho _hyung_ talked to her. It wasn’t a secret that his _hyung_ had a big crush on her since they were a trainee. His _hyung_ had been relentless, and patient even as the girl had never reciprocated his feelings over and over again. He felt sorry for him, everyone felt sorry for him, even Soojung herself—his endless effort obviously had put her in a very uncomfortable position, since they need to work in the same agency for God knows how long, and both of their respective groups had only just begun.

It didn’t help that he, Kim Jongin, also had grown some feelings for her. He didn’t know when exactly those thoughts came upon him, maybe somewhere since they have photoshoots together, maybe just because they had too much practice together, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that her name, her face, her smile, had came across his mind a lot lately.

He should’ve been happy when out of nowhere Soojung said that she liked him, too. Never in a million years he thought that such thing would happen, Soojung was so shy around him she turned to the other way everytime she saw him, but it did. But he was stupid, and clueless, as he rejected her on behalf of his respected _hyung_. Up until now, he truly believed that it was the right thing to do. He was hoping and praying every night that giving up on his own feelings for the sake of his group members _is_ the right thing to do.

It was _torture_.

The ‘ice princess’ acted impossibly cold towards him and all the EXO members afterwards. Everyone’s been wondering what the hell had happened with her, thinking that maybe it was Suho’s doing, only to find out later that it was Kai. It was hard to keep a secret when you’re living together; it was even harder when his leader had stopped talking to him and half of the other members had blamed him for it. Fortunately, Suho _hyung_ came to his senses not long after, considering that they need to keep out personal business from work.

Kai sneaked out of his hiding place, carefully tried not to bumped into anyone especially Suho _hyung_ , then walking fast to the direction where Soojung direction was. He wanted to talk to her; it’s been a while since they have a nice conversation and he kind of missed it. Maybe they could be just friends, that would be enough for him other than this awkward silence between the two of them. Suho _hyung_ needed to accept that; Kai had sacrificed his feelings enough so Suho _hyung_ had to understand and be the bigger guy this time. He saw her headed to the parking lot, passed the security check and suddenly stopped with her phone still glued to her ear. There’s no one else around beside them, it’s a blocked passage especially made for the idols so they could come and go without the fans surrounding them, so no one could get in here unless they were idols or had an ID pass.

He figured out that she must be waiting for her sister to pick her up. He smiled, typical Soojung. While other idols would take their time to mingle or simply rest after the show, Soojung would be the first person who left the stage and the building if only she had her own way. He had a mischievous idea to put a prank on her by sneaking up from behind her. It was suicide really, bu he could already imagined how furious she would be, when a tall figure beat him to it.

It was a man, he could tell by his figure, and he was wearing black from head to toe it was suspicious. Kai’s eyes bulged out in horror, as he realized that it was possibly an attempted abduction right in front of his eyes. They were at least 100 meters away from him, he couldn’t make out who it was because the guy had his back on him, and he was about to sprint up to save her when the mysterious guy turned her around and she was throwing a fit at him.

Kai immediately hid behind a nearby pillar before she saw him. It seemed like that Soojung knew the guy very well since she didn’t hesitate to throw several punches on him, kicking and screaming while the poor guy doubling over his stomach, laughing so hard and only managed to yelped out an ‘ouch’ or two. _What a brave guy_ , Kai admitted. There’s only a few people who had been _that_ close to Soojung, and they were all his _hyungs_ from the same agency as him. He wondered if this guy was one of them, so he must have recognized him.

He watched them interracted as he learned that there was something different with the way Soojung behaving towards this guy. Normally, there’s always a bit of shyness in her that made her hold back, no matter how close they were. But with this guy, there’s no holding back; she looked awfully comfortable with him that she didn’t hesitate to throw tantrums. It wasn’t disrespect either, since the guy seemed like enjoying himself even though she probably left multiple bruises on him by now. But what surprised him the most was the next scene that happened in front of his eyes. His eyebrows taut together, mouth agape, frowning as suddenly the guy was kissing her right on her lips, and she was kissing him back.

A fist formed on Kai’s right hand. His nails digging into his palm so hard it might drew blood, a wake up call that the scene before him was real. He wasn’t in a somekind of sick, twisted, worst nightmare he ever had, no matter how much he wished it was. _Is it really Jung Soojung?_ The girl who had confessed to him months ago with blushes on her cheeks, was now kissing some random guy in the parking lot? And he thought she was all cute and innocent, how stupid it was for him to think that she’ll probably hold on to her feelings for him for at least... well, a few years after?

 _How naive_.

To make things worse, as the kiss had finally stop, Soojung was looking up to the guy with her face as red as a fresh boiled crab, with the brightest smile he ever saw on her. He was so curious; who is this guy who could make the ‘ice princess’ warmed up to the point of almost bursting out with happiness? In the span of less than a few months? The guy now wrapped his arms around her shoulders, turning to a direction further away from where Kai was hiding. But Kai finally catch a glimpse of his face from the side. He swallowed a lump in his throat as he recognized that face.

It was Kang Minhyuk.

***

“ _Oppa!_ ”

A series of punches landed on Minhyuk’s chest and arms with full-force as she was releasing her anger to him. Who knew that a skinny girl like her could throw some decent punches? Luckily his body had been used with such violent aggression that he didn’t really mind. Soojung was irresistible when she’s being like this; so he gripped both of her arms gently then pulled her body closer to him and crushed his lips on hers.

 _God, he missed her so much_.

He didn’t let her go from his arms as she scolded him after the kiss, “ _Yah,_ are you trying to give me a heart attack? I thought I was going to die then...”

Another peck landed on her lips, a sweet gesture to show her that he was sorry, “I thought you’d like the surprise...” his head was tilted to the side before he continued to ask, “Don’t you miss me at all?”

Her hands immediately encircled around his waist, squeezing him in a loving manner that made him smile, “I miss you so much,” she said with her eyes peering up through her eyelashes, her face every shades of bit red.

He loved the fact that he still could make her blushed like that, even though they had been separated for more than two weeks. It was a stark contrast since they used to see each other everyday during filming, so it kinda hard to adjust with their new situation. The reality hit him hard that this is what they should expecting from now on, and the fear of his past relationship haunting him like never before.

“By the way, _oppa_ ,” Soojung’s voice shook him out of his dark thoughts, “What are you doing here? I thought you said you’ll be spending Christmas in Japan with your band.”

“ _Ah_... actually, I went straight to the airport once we finished our concert. I told them that I wanted to spent Christmas with my family,” he grinned, not even felt sorry that he had been lying to his _hyungs_ for this.

“ _Eyy_...” Soojung scrunched up her face with her boyfriend behaviour, “And they believe you for that? On Christmas night? _Aiishh_... _nappeun namja_... What if they knew that you were lying? I don’t want you to fight with them over this, it would make me feel bad...”

Minhyuk really wanted to laugh with her statement, no one had ever said that he was a bad boy. That was a first. But he appreciated her concern for him, it was very adorable.

“ _Yah_ , what was so wrong with wanting to spend Christmas with my pretty girlfriend?” Minhyuk said, defending himself, “Other girls would be swooning over this. Not every guy would prefer their girlfriend over their band, you know?”

Soojung clicked her tounge, “ _Ara_... but don’t make a habit of this, okay? I don’t want to be the reason for your irresponsible behaviour. Your fans would kill me for that.”

So that was the real reason. He still couldn’t get why this girl of his was very scared of the fans. It was still a very sensitive topic for her and even though he’s curious, he wanted to hear all about it right from her mouth, not from some gossip sites that he’d sure would find something easily if he would only bother to search the web. Maybe someday. For tonight, he just wanted to spend some time with her.

Minhyuk released his hold on her, “Yes, ma’am. Now,” he turned her to where he parked Yong’s car before putting his arm around her again, “I’m going to kidnap you for our very first date. _Kajja_!”

Soojung giggled seeing his enthusiasm. She let herself being dragged by him, practically jumping for finally having their long awaited first date.

Once they were seated in the car, Soojung asked him, “Where are we going?”

Minhyuk started the car, humming while thinking of something, “I’m hungry. What about you?”

Her eyes sparkled at the mention of food that Minhyuk’s auto-smile mode turned on, she was jumping in her seat, batting her eyelashes while suggesting, “ _Gogi_?”

“It’s _gogi_ , then,” Minhyuk drove the car out of the building, with Soojung clapped her hands happily. Some other girls would blanched at the mention of meat at this hour of the night, not to mention idol girls like her who had to undergo a strict diet to maintain their shape, but Soojung had no problems with it. She ate everything she wanted, whenever she wanted, and not a single fat would be found in her belly. Other girls would kill to have such advantageous ability.

Minhyuk took her to a 24-hour Korean barbeque restaurant around Seoul, [Bukkakjeong](http://www.visitseoul.net/en/article/article.do?_method=view&;m=0005002006003&;p=en&;art_id=31603&;lang=en&;tab=info), one of the best and most favourite place around Cheong-gye cheon. If they came a little bit earlier, this place most probably would be so crowded and they might bumped into someone they knew, or worse, some fans that recognized them. But it’s a couple of hours before midnight, so most people hopefully had went home. Besides, both of them had put on a thick jacket that covered them from head to their knees, trying their best to blend in looking like a normal couple. Minhyuk took a secluded seat where other people couldn’t sneak a peek on them before he placed an order for both of them.

While they were waiting for their food to come, Soojung moved her seat to Minhyuk’s side. Instead of seating across from him like most couples did, she preferred this arrangement just so that she could get closer to him. It’s easier to share the food this way. Besides, Minhyuk _oppa_ could put his arms around her occasionally.

It just felt so good everytime he did it.

Soojung basically loved being hugged. Before she met him, it was restricted only for her sister and her band members. Everyone else’s who tried to do that without her consent would get her icy glare and a few kicks here and there. But Minhyuk _oppa_ ’s hugs are very addicting; everything about him is addicting. His smiling eyes, his soothing voice, his gentle caress, his warm hugs, his sweet kisses... _Oh my God_ , she loved everything about him.

 _Wait._ Did she just think about love?

She shook her thoughts away. It was just their first date, how could she even think about that?

Her phone suddenly ringed and she took it out of her purse. She stared at the caller’s ID, then glancing to her boyfriend.

It’s Suho _oppa_.

_Gosh... what a way to ruin my first date!_

She pushed the reject button, earning a questioning glance from Minhyuk _oppa_ , “Who is it?”

Soojung put her phone away on the table, glaring at it like she was going to kill it if it ever ringed again. She replied to Minhyuk, “Nothing’s important.”

Minhyuk didn’t buy it, but he let it slide. He didn’t want to ruin her mood since it was their first date. Being a good boyfriend that he is, he decided to cook the meats for her once their food had came. Soojung’s mood visibly elated as she took the first bite of the cooked meat.

“Mmm...!” It was so delicious that she forgot about the call immediately. She feed him another perfectly cooked meat. She watched him savoured the taste with his eyes closed, and together they were enjoying their meal when her phone interrupted their romantic moments once again.

“ _Aiishh... jinjja_!” Soojung grumbled as she took her phone; it was a message from Suho _oppa_.

 

**Suho _oppa_**

Soojung-ah, where are you? Your manager had been looking for you. She said Sica _noona_ couldn’t come to pick you up. Did you came home alone?

 

 _Ugh, damn it!_ Soojung hit her forehead with her phone, she totally forgot to inform her sister and her manager. They must thought she was still in the concert area, looking for her. Right on cue, her manager’s now calling her. She answered it without thinking, “ _Ne, oppa_. I’m sorry, I totally forgot. I’m already at home now. _Ne_ , I took a cab.”

“ _Yah don’t you know it’s very dangerous for you to take a cab alone at this hour? Why don’t you asked me to send you home?!!_ ”

Her manager’s yell could be heard throughout the phone, piercing her ear. Even Minhyuk _oppa_ ’s head turned with shock written all over his face. Soojung winced her phone away from her ear as her manager keep on ranting on the phone.

“ _Mianhe_ , _oppa_. _Ne_. Next time I’ll asked you first. _Ne_...”

Soojung let out a heavy sigh as she ended up the call. She didn’t put it down though, she knew her manager would call Sica _unnie_ for this, then she would have a second round of yells from her sister.

Minhyuk tried to feed her, but she shook her head lifelessly, “Just eat, Jungie-yah. Is it your sister just now?”

“ _Ani_ ,” Soojung shook her head again, her lips jutted out before her eyes shifted to look up at him, “It’s my manager. I'm pretty sure that he’s going to report me to my sister. Tsk... hmpfh... _Pabo yah_!” she hit her own head, “How could I forget? What should I tell her if she knew I wasn’t home yet? _Oppa_...”

Minhyuk squeezed his arms around her shoulders, trying to think of something, “Hmm... what about the truth?”

An angry hiss and a pinch on his stomach was his immediate answer, “ _Yah_! Do you want to die? My sister would definitely kill you for this!”

He chuckled lightly as she sulked, trying to keep a distance from him. Of course, he didn’t let her, “ _Wae_? You’re not planning to tell her about us?” He tried to look casual as he asked her even though he was very curious. He wanted to know how serious she is with him, but he didn’t want to scare her off either. She needed some time, he knew, it was just their first date anyway.

He could feel her body stiffened, and he cursed himself from throwing that question out of a sudden. His expression didn’t change though, so he offered another meat to her mouth and this time she accepted it without any protest.

“Is it good?”

She nodded, her mouth chewing on the meat slowly. Carefully, she watched him to see any changes on his face. She hadn’t answer his earlier question yet. To be honest, she wanted to keep this a secret as long as she could, just because she wanted to enjoy some time alone with him. Once her sister knew about them, it was most likely the whole company would know it, too. That’s how bad her sister at keeping a secret. Then people would start asking this and that. _Gah_. They were just came out from the disaster that the filming set was, she really needed some space to think through all of this and see where is this going. But how the hell she was going to explain that to her boyfriend without any misunderstanding?

He would probably think that she was just playing around if she didn’t say anything!

 _Ahh..._ _I’m really going crazy over this_!

Her phone ringed once again, it was from her sister, just as she predicted. “ _Ne_ , Sica _unnie_...”

It was fortunate that her sister hadn’t been home yet, so Soojung could tell her the same lies that she told her manager earlier. Seemed like that Sica _unnie_ had called her group members to pick her up and they would have a Christmas party with other idols, probably the same party that Amber attended to. Knowing her sister it would take a while before she came home. Soojung stole a couple of glances to Minhyuk _oppa_ , smiling secretly, that meant she could spend some more time with him. The thought alone had already lifted her mood up a few notch.

Minhyuk kept up his calm face, trying to dismiss the troubling thoughts at how smooth she was lying to her own sister. He caught her lying several times at other people on the set, but that was when they were asking about their relationship. He wondered how many times did she lied to him, and how many times did she got away with it. The first date excuse suddenly seemed not enough to hold his curiosity. It seemed like there’s so much things that he didn’t know about her that he needed to catch up with.

Once Soojung ended her call with her sister, Minhyuk was elated that he finally got her full attention. She looked equally relieved so he thought there’s no one else that would interrupted their date anymore. But he was wrong. Her phone ringed once again, and Minhyuk swore he would throw that phone if it didn’t stop ringing. After her manager, her sister, who is it now? Her mom?

Soojung gave him an apologetic look before she took a glance at her phone for the umpteenth times. He let out a breathy sigh, didn’t even bother to ask who was it, when Soojung put the phone back to the table, unanswered.

Now, that’s even more suspicious.

“You’re not going to answer that?” Minhyuk inquired, frowning at her and her phone simultaneously. She wouldn’t ignore her mom’s call, right?

“It’s not important,” Soojung said curtly. She was totally ignoring her phone, acting like it didn’t ring over and over again. It annoyed the hell out of him.

Whoever it was, he had a bad feeling about this person. He recalled those times when she was ignoring his calls everytime she was mad at him. Is this how she reacted everytime someone annoyed her? So he wasn’t the only one she gave this kind of treatment? Wait, is it a guy?

His curiosity got the better of him. Since Soojung seemed determined to stick to her own decision, he decided to take her phone once and for all.

Soojung was shocked with his bold moves. She desperately trying to grasp her phone before he saw the displayed name on her screen. But damn his long hand, she couldn’t reach it and before she knew it, it was too late. He already saw it. She was pissed. Both of them were.

She snatched her phone away from him once he stopped moving. She thought he was going to answer it by himself, thus creating a whole new mess that she knew she wouldn’t be able to handle. But he didn’t. He was sat still once he read the name, and she was holding her breath to see what he was going to do next.

He took a deep breath before he faced her with cold eyes that made her shivered. She had never saw him this angry. Jealous yes, but not mad. Never at her.

“Suho _oppa_?” He said with malice in his voice she winced, “Isn’t he one of that EXO boys? What is this? You’re not cheating on me, aren’t you?”

Her answer was immediate, “ _Ani!_ I don’t even like him, you see it yourself I was trying to avoid him. How could you accused me of cheating?”

Minhyuk narrowed his eyes at her, “ _Jinjja_? Like those times you were avoiding me? How is it different with me then?”

“ _Yah!_ ” Soojung was equally mad now. _How could he_? “If I like him, I wouldn’t be here to have a date with you!!”

Her breath was hurried, that was what happened when she was holding her anger. Minhyuk could see that she was on the verge of tears, and he cursed himself for being the cause of it.

 _Congratulations Kang Minhyuk_ , _you just made the worst first date scenario ever_.

To top it all off, her phone ringed again. Minhyuk rolled his eyes.

 _God, this guy is relentless_.

“You should answer it,” Minhyuk said to her. His tone now much gentler than earlier, it soothed her angry state a bit. But she wouldn’t listen to him. If he was that mad when she didn’t answer the call, she couldn’t imagine what he was going to do if she did.

When she didn’t do as he said, he tried to persuade her with softer tone, “That kind of guy would only keep on calling you if you don’t answer it now. Talk to him once, and turn off your phone for the rest of the night. I don’t want him to bother our date anymore than this.”

Soojung glanced at him skeptically, “You still want to continue our date?”

Once again, Minhyuk took a deep breath to keep his calm. Without hesitating, he pulled her closer to him like they weren’t arguing just now, and fortunately, she wasn’t resisting. “Of course, Jungie-yah. There’s no way I would let you keep this as a memory of our first date. I’m going to made it up for you. Besides, there were some places that I needed to show you.”

Now it’s Soojung turned to narrowed her eyes at him, she’s not completely convinced, "Places? It’s near midnight in winter, is there any place that still open for public at this hour?”

Minhyuk smiled, knowing that it was his best shot at winning her mood back, “You’ll be surprise,” then he kissed her forehead gently.

With her head leaning on his arm, Soojung finally answer Suho _oppa_ ’s call, “ _Yobuseyo_?”

“ _Yah, Soojung-ah! Why didn’t you answer my call? I was so worried, you know? Is it true that you’re taking a taxi alone?_ ”

Soojung took a peek at Minhyuk who was rolling his eyes. She didn’t put the call on loudspeaker, but seeing at how close they were, she was certain that he could hear a snippet of her conversation.

“ _Ne_ , _oppa_ , no need to worry.I’m sorry I didn’t pick up your call earlier, I’ve fallen asleep already,” she said flatly. She even managed to make her voice sounded sleepy, hoping it would make Suho _oppa_ realized that she wasn’t interested to talk to him right now.

“ _Oh, jinjja? Sorry for waking you up then. But, are you really okay? Yah, you should’ve just told me if Sica noona couldn’t pick you up. I’m always up to give you a ride home, you know that, right?_ ”

She could see from the corner of her eyes how Minhyuk _oppa_ glared at her phone. She hurriedly reply, “There’s no need to do that, _oppa_. I could take care of myself. Look, can we talk later? I’m really sleepy right now...” she faked a yawn to give extra effect.

“ _Oh, geude? Okay then. Goodnight, Soojung-ah..._ ”

“Night, _oppa_...” then she push the end call button as fast as she could. She shifted her gaze to her still glaring boyfriend, “Happy, now?”

He frowned at her like she was growing two heads, “What was that? You were acting way too nice for someone you didn’t even like. Tsk, no wonder he didn’t stop chasing you.”

She slapped him hard on his chest, pushing him away from her, “ _Yah, oppa!_ What should I do then? I can’t be too mean to him, he’s my _sunbae_. We’ve known each other for years and we’ll be working under the same company for God knows how long! I’ve felt uncomfortable with him as it is, are you going to make me went through hell for this?”

“ _Yah_ , _yah_ , _yah_ ,that’s not what I meant...” he reached out for her. Once she settled back in his arms, sulking cutely, he rubbed his hand on her arm to soothe her, “I’m just saying that the only way to make him stop was to say that you already have someone else to send you home. You don’t even have to tell him it was me, he was mature enough to put two and two together and see that he had no chance.”

“Are you saying that I have to tell him that I was taken? _Yah_ , Sica _unnie_ would kill me if he told her about this!”

Minhyuk massaged his temple hard as the sudden headache attack him. This is getting ridiculous. As much as he wanted to claim her as his, he couldn’t do it if she wasn’t on the same page with him. It’s not like they’re going public, he just wanted to at least tell their respective families and band members so they didn’t have to sneak up everytime they wanted to meet each other. Being in a secretive relationship like this was exhausting, what with the excuses and the lies they had to tell everyone around them. Sooner or later they would found out about it, and Minhyuk preferred to tell them soon before any rumours spread out.

The only problem now was that Soojung wasn’t ready for it. It was obvious and there’s nothing he could do about it but to follow her pace. It was making him crazy, especially now that he knew that he had a competitor. Knowing her, he probably had a plenty of them in line, he just didn’t know who were they.  

Soojung still staring up at him with that big eyes of hers, one of her hand clutching on his shirt tight. He smiled, at least she didn’t made an attempt to runaway or giving up on him. As a reward and a thank you note for her, he kissed her on the lips. The kiss was soft and gentle, it was meant to soothe the raging fire that were ignited in both of their heads.

Both of them sigh a breath of relieve once the kiss ended. He tucked a strand of hair from her face, looking at her straight in the eye, he said, “Fine, we’re doing it your way. For now,” he waited for her agreement before turned to the long forgotten meal on the table, “Now, let’s finish this. You need to eat more, I’m not taking you home if I didn’t wear you out tonight.”

That earned him a giggle from her, “Is that a challenge?”

“ _Yah_ , don’t you know that I’m an expert at dating? Now eat. Aaaa...” he offered her a meat that she happily accepted.

They did finish their dinner date in peace. No more interruptions, not a single phone call or text to bother them, not even some curious passanger who usually took random pictures when they saw someone they might recognize. After that, he took her for a walk at The Luminaries, not far from the restaurant they’ve been before. Holding hands along the way, the beautiful lights all around them had not only warmed their hands, but also their hearts.

“Wah...” she couldn’t hide the excitement as she admiring the complicated patterns made by hundreds of small colourful bulbs, pointing her finger here and there, jumping and occasionally squealing everytime she found something amazing, she looked exactly like a little kid in a candy store. “ _Oppa_ , come here!” she linked her arms with his, dragging him to a tree replica made of lights, with a few blinking lights that representing flowers, “We should take a picture! _Palli_!!”

He fished out his phone from his pocket, pulling her closer before taking a few pictures with the tree as their background. He even managed to stole a peck or two on her cheek and lips, saving the evidence as his phone’s screensaver. They took several more pictures with different objects when he suddenly gripped her wrist and exclaimed, “It’s almost midnight, _kajja_! There’s something you need to see.”

“Where?”

His answer was only a secretive smile as he told her to walk faster. Apparently, he dragged her to one of the biggest Christmas tree in the square of [Cheong-gye cheon](http://datecoursesinseoul.blogspot.com/2012/12/various-date-courses-in-seoul-in-winter.html). Just as she was about to voice out a series of admiration pleasantries, the spiralled Christmas tree lit up with circling bulbs all around it from bottom to top, then bursting out laser lights creating breathtaking show that made everyone stop on their tracks.

Soojung laughed happily as she very much enjoyed the show. Minhyuk could only stare at her, admiring her beauty between these thousands of lights, smiling so bright reserved only for his eyes to see. He didn’t remember ever seeing a prettier sight to behold like this. He didn’t know he could make someone looked that happy beside him. He couldn’t even remember he ever felt _this_ happy around a girl before.

His world had stopped right at this moment.

Soojung took both of his hands, dragging him into her own bubbly little world. The brown haired girl asked him to take more pictures in front of the Christmas tree, this time with his arm around her waist from behind. He complied. But she surprised him with a kiss on his cheek, just like he did a few moments before.

She turned her body around to face him then put her arms around him, squeezing him tight. Peering up through her eyelashes she whispered, “Thank you, _oppa_. This is absolutely an amazing date.”

He was smiling from ear to ear hearing that, “I know, right? But,” he poked the tip of her nose with his, “we haven’t finish yet.”

“ _Heol_... there’s more?”

“I told you I’m going to wear you out, remember? Don’t tell me you’re tired already?”

“I’m not,” she quipped back. “Now, where are we going then?”

“Somewhere to warm up your hands,” with that, he held her hand and once again dragged her around.

They went to where he left the car and left the square of Cheong-gye cheon. They passed another Christmas tree around the City hall, where an outdoor ice rink was visible from where they were. But he didn’t stop there, and she didn’t even try to hide her disappointment.

“ _Oppa_ , don’t you want to go ice skating?” she pleaded with her doe eyes, jutted out her lips for more dramatic look.

“Oh, do you like ice skating?”

She nodded her head multiple times, “Me and my sister used to go there before we became an idol. It’s been a long time since I played one...”

Normally, it would be hard for him to say no when she’s pleading like that, but this time he couldn’t grant her wish, “I’m sorry, Soojungie... But it’s already past midnight, I bet all of the ice rinks had been closed for today. Maybe next time, hmm?”

She pursed her lips, knowing that he was right, “But... when will next time would be?”

“ _Aigoo_...” he ruffled her hair out of habit, “You can’t even wait for our next date? As soon as we got some days off. Prepare yourself, okay? You’re going to spend your whole day with me you won’t move a finger the next day.”

“ _Eyy_... how could you be so confident?”

“But that’s true! My ex-girlfriend was so tired—“ he stopped himself before he said anything more the moment Soojung was squinting her eyes at him at the mention of his ex.

“ _Oppa_ , you really know how to ruin a date, aren’t you?”

“ _Mianhe_... it was an accident,” he parked the car in front of an alley, making her suddenly aware of their surrounding. Minhyuk _oppa_ had gotten out of the car and went to her side, opening the door for her and releasing the seatbelt like he always do. Seeing her still haven’t said anything, he thought she was just still mad at him, “Jungie-yah, I swear that won’t happen again, okay? Come out, we’re here.”

Soojung was still hesitating, taking in her surrounding, the alley was quiet dark and there’s only a few people around. A frown formed on her forehead, “ _Oppa_ , where is this? You’re not taking me to some weird places, aren’t you?”

“What if I am?” He laughed as soon as her eyes widen in fear, she was obviously taking him seriously. She hit him hard for making fun of her, and he only laughed even harder, “ _Yah_ , who told you to have such a dirty mind? _Byuntae_!” He flicked his finger on her forehead.

She hissed at him. How could he said that she was the pervert one?! Seriously, this guy really know how to get on her nerves! One moment he was making her so happy, the next moment he irritated her to no end. He even made her almost cry earlier, all of that happened in one day! _Gosh_ , how could she liked someone like him? He made her world turned upside down like a freaking rollercoaster!

“What are you waiting for? C’mon! Or do you want to be left alone in this dark alley?”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

The guy had some audacity to smile, “You’re right. C’mon, hmm?”

For the nth times, he succeeded on persuading her to do everything he said. Stomping on her feet, she followed him through even smaller alley, his hands never left her even once. It’s not a long walk when he stopped in front of an old house. A dim light highlighting a small wooden sign on it’s door, [Shin Old Tea House](http://thatbackpacker.com/2013/02/22/a-traditional-tea-house-in-insadong/). Minhyuk ringed a bell that she didn’t know was there, then not long after, an _ahjumma_ greeted them with a warm smile and invited them in.

She was busy taking in the interior of the tea house, despite the creepy alley out there, there’s hidden an amazing, cozy, traditional tea house like this. There’s two more couples already, having a conversation while keeping their voices low which was kinda useless, because she still could hear them. It seemed like Minhyuk _oppa_ have been familiar with this place, since he pulled her to one of a secluded yet cozy corner, where they could rest their back on a concrete wall, while staring at the pillow patterns that was hanging on the other side of the wall.

The _ahjumma_ offered them a menu, then Minhyuk _oppa_ instantly ordered for a cinnamon tea and told Soojung some of his favourite beverages before she settled on a ginger tea and a plate of _tteokbokki_ to share with him. It didn’t take long for the _ahjumma_ to return for their tea, and Soojung didn’t forget to thank her politely. The _ahjumma_ smiled back to her, asking her if it was her first time to be here. She said yes of course, and the _ahjumma_ told her to enjoy her time in here.

“ _Oppa_.”

“Hm?”

Soojung gave up to her inner turmoil to sink into the tempting fluffy pillows all around her, propping her chin on his shoulder, “How did you find these amazing places?” She shifted her gaze back to admire the wooden floor, to the crafted old table, the ceramic tea cups, some antique sculpture placed carefully around the room, up to the ceiling where some dim unique lanterns hanging down beautifully.

“You like it?” he asked her before he took a sip of his tea, closing his eyes to enjoy the warm liquid slid down his throat.

She was staring at his handsome face, her eyes lingered down on his adam apple as he swallowed his tea, “Hm,” she hummed quietly. Blame it to the dim lights, why did she suddenly found him so sexy for sipping a cup of tea for God’s sake? She wasn’t drunk, they had agreed not to drink any alcohol tonight since he was driving and she didn’t want their first date memories left in some blurry images that she won’t remember when she woke up the next day. She wanted to remember every detail of this night, etched them into her brain and cherished them everytime she felt like to. And this, to be able to stare at him up close like this, would forever burnt inside her brain.

He took another sip and it took all of her will not to kiss him up his neck to his jaw and lips. _Great_ , she was turning into a real pervert. She decided to take her eyes off of him before her mind went further and take a bite of the delicious looking _tteokbokki_ without thinking. Of course, the hot and spicy cake burnt her tounge immediately. Minhyuk put down his cup of tea and offered her a glass of water to help her.

“ _Yah_ , be careful, Jungie-yah...”

The _ahjumma_ earlier even came down to bring her another type of sweet rice cakes for her to eat, she said it would help her burnt tounge. She took the cake gratefully, then after she was indeed feeling better, she hid her face on Minhyuk’s chest out of embarrassment. The _ahjumma_ smiled knowingly, telling her to be careful next time. Minhyuk couldn’t hold his laughter once the _ahjumma_ left them alone, with her burrying her face even deeper into his chest.

Once his laughter died down, she peeked up from her hiding place, biting her lower lips. Minhyuk put his thumb on her lips, asking her if she was alright. She nodded slightly, and resumed her position earlier. He wrapped his arms around her and tucked his chin on top of her head, looking at the other couples who were apparently getting ready to get home.

He sneaked a glance at her untouched tea, “Jungie-yah, your tea is getting cold. Are you sure you wanted to waste it away? The _ahjumma_ won’t let you come here again if you do that,” he whispered the last sentence to her ear, an effective way to make her jumped out of his arm.

She wrapped her hands around the warm cup, blowing some air into it just in case. True to his words, because of the cold weather and it’s already late at night, the tea had cooled down significantly. Even though it was warm enough not to burn her tounge (again), but she wished she did drink it a bit earlier. The combination of the warm tea, in a warm place, within his warm embrace, really put her in some kind of peace and serenity. She really wouldn’t mind to come here everyday.

Minhyuk took a bite of the _tteokbokki_ , and offer it to his girlfriend very carefully. While enjoying the beverages, they talk about everything and nothing. Minhyuk told her that he came here quite often during his trainee days along with his _hyungs_. Until now they still came here occasionally just to chill out and reminiscing the old days. Soojung was listening to him intently, she could imagined the younger version of him came here after a hard day of practicing with his band, all sweaty and tired but still happy. It must have been quite noisy back then, she imagined how pissed the _ahjumma_ must be everytime they came. Came to think about it, this place was a perfect place for young couples who were looking for a nice and quite romantic place to hang out, not for some hormonal young teenage boys.

That’s when a disturbing thought came across her mind, “Wait. What about your ex? Don’t tell me you often brought her here!”

Minhyuk freeze at the mention of his ex. “Hmm...” he bought some time to prolong his answer, but she was already standing up and threatening to leave him there when he pulled her down by her wrist, “No. Fortunately, I’ve never brought her here.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, “ _Jinjja_?” she asked, not trusting him at all.

“ _Jinjja_... you can ask the _ahjumma_ if you don’t believe me.”

She contemplated his answer, she thought there’s no way the _ahjumma_ would have agreed to keep his secret, she seemed so nice and sincere... “But, _wae_?”

Her _oppa_ then looked struggling to find an answer for her, “To be honest, I don’t really know why. I’ve been planning to take her here all along, but I guess, I’ve never had the chance.”

There was a silent pause after he said that. He seemed like lost in his own thoughts, and Soojung didn’t know how to take his attention back to here and now, with her, his current girlfriend. She suddenly realized that his feeling with his ex-girlfriend must’ve been quite deep, that even a short reminder of her could affect him this much. Some unpleasant thoughts had crept up to her mind, slipping through between these new things about him that she had just learned, tainting his image of him who she thought had eyes only for her. This side of him made her realized that she liked him more than she thought, that she didn’t want him to think about anyone else but her. Soojung wondered if she had as much effect to him as his ex was, _if_ their relationship would last long enough for her to get _that_ much effect to him.

 

_‘Your first love isn’t always the first person you kiss, or the first person you date. Your first love is the person you will always compare everyone to. The person that you will never truly get over, even when you’ve convinced yourself that you’ve moved on.’   –Unknown_

 

Her heart felt restricted, like someone had put it in a cage that it hurts with every beats. Seriously, what was so great with her besides being his first love?

Oh right, people said that first love remained forever.

_‘Maybe your first love is the one that sticks with you because it’s the only person who will ever receive all of you. After that, you learn better. But most of all, no matter what, a piece of you forever remains left behind in the heart of the one you loved – a piece no future lover could ever get. That piece holds innocence – the belief that love really can last forever. It holds friendship and pain, trial and error, the one kiss you’ll never forget, and that night under the stars you can never get back. It holds youth and everything you thought love would be, everything that was proven wrong...’     –Unknown_

 

She didn’t like it. She didn’t like it one bit with the way he looked right now, spacing out with the mention of _her_. She decided that whoever she was, she hated her. She hated her for being the first girl who ever gotten his heart. She hated her for breaking his heart. She hated her because she would be the one who he compared to every girl he ever met. She didn’t want to be compared to her. She was just a part of his past; and Jung Soojung is his girlfriend now. Unless... could it be... that he still had any feelings for her? Some unfinished business that he couldn’t get over with?

Mustering up all of her courage to take him back, she leaned forward to catch his eyes, reminding him that she was still here with him. She hoped he could see how worried she was through her eyes, how scared she was when he left her here alone with these scary thoughts of her. He opened his mouth to say something to her, but she shut him out with a kiss.

It was a plea. There’s some desperation in her kiss, some uncertainty to test his heart out if there’s still a room for her somewhere inside. He kissed her back to let her know that he wanted to let her in, that he wanted her to fill the empty spaces in his heart.

She ended the kiss with her hand caressing his jaw. Eyes still searching into his, as if she could look straight into his soul. He could feel her breath blowing softly on his face as she called his name.

“ _Oppa_.”

“Hm?”

“Look only at me.”

He cupped her hand that was still holding his face in a loving manner, “Okay.”

“Think only of me.”

His lips curved into a soft smile as he kissed the palm of her hand that he was holding, “Okay.”

 _Love me with all of your heart_.

He waited for her to say something more, so when she didn’t, it was his turn to kiss her again, “I’m sorry. Let’s not talk about her ever again, okay?”

“Okay.”

He let her buried herself in his arms, sipping their own cup of tea and finishing the rest of the _tteokbokki_. They were talking about some funny moments back during filming, wondering how everybody else’s doing now. They’ve even shared their schedule to see if they could meet during one of the SBS awards. Turned out that the SBS Gayo Daejun was the only event that both of them attending together.

“Ahh... I really wanted to attend the SBS Drama Awards. All of the cast must’ve been there,” Soojung sulked cutely, “It must be fun to see them again. _Oppa_ , I’m so jealous of you.”

“ _Yah_ , I’m the one who should be jealous because I couldn’t see you in a beautiful dress. Don’t even think to wear that kind of minidress while I wasn’t around,” he said, referring to the blue minidress she wore during filming, “I’m going to kidnap you and locked you up in my room if I ever saw you wearing that kind of dress ever again.”

Soojung clicked her tounge with his threat, “Tsk, your jealousy won’t get you anywhere, _oppa_...”

“ _Heol_... Said someone who was jealous over someone who was in the past.”

“ _Oppa_!”

“ _Wae_? At least I have a real reason to be worried, there’s someone close enough to my girl who have every intention to steal her away from me.”

“Would it make you feel better if I tell you I won’t pick up his call ever again?”

“Could you even do that?”

Her silence was enough answer for him to know that she couldn’t.

“Now that I think about it, Lee Bona must’ve been a very strong girl.”

“ _Yah_ , why are you talking about Lee Bona all of a sudden?”

She turned away from him intentionally, looking at her nails like it was the most interesting thing in the world, “I mean, how could she be friends with Cha Eunsang? If I was her, I don’t think I could even put up a fake smile if I ever met _her_ ,” she emphasized on the last word, and Minhyuk knew that she wasn’t talking about Chanyoung’s relationship with Cha Eunsang.

He pinched both of her cheeks playfully, “ _Ara, ara_. Fine. You won. I thought we’re agreed that we won’t talk about her anymore?”

“ _Yah_! You’re the one who brought her up first!”

He swore he could’ve eat her right now if she’s going to keep acting like this. The thought sounds so tempting, but he settled on locking her head with his arm around her neck. He kept the playful act to keep the atmosphere light until it was time to take her home. He even took her on a short piggy ride from the old tea house to the car.

She was fallen asleep within the first 10 minutes of their way home.

He should’ve patted himself on his back. _Mission accomplished_.

When they were arrived at the front of her house, he bought his time to stare at her sleeping form. Today he had learnt something about her, and so was she. He really wanted to know about her better, and he hoped there would be plenty of time for that. He didn’t have the heart to wake her up, but both of them would be found frozen if he didn’t take her to a warmer place than the car. So he got out of the car to her side, and pick her up bridal style to her front door. She had woken up once she felt that someone had lifted her up from her seat, only to settle herself further into his arms when she saw that it was Minhyuk _oppa_. He kissed her once to wake her up, not knowing what to do if he couldn’t open the door or pushed the door bell with his arms all over her. Instead of waking up and walking on her own feet, Soojung pulled out the key from her bag to her front door and unlocked it, and told him to take her up to her bedroom.

It was so hard to step in to the house without making any noises. If her family found them sneaking in like this, he swore they would kill him right on the spot. It was another difficult task to make his way upstairs, since it was so dark inside the house. Fortunately, finding her room wasn’t that hard, since there was her name hanging on a slightly opened door. He used his back to push the door open wide and let himself in, then he plopped her down on her bed. He took her shoes, socks, and jacket off before he tucked her under a thick blanket.

He watched her again for the last time that night, when she draped her arms around his neck and pull him in for a kiss. Well, who was he to deny a sleeping beauty like her? After she was feeling satisfied, she pushed him away and practically kicked him out of her house.

“Go home, _oppa_ , before someone caught you here. Oh, just take the key with you, I’ll take it back in a few days. Goodnight, _oppa_...” and she went back to sleep just like that.

 

_‘Something about first love defies duplication. Before it, your heart is blank. Unwritten. After, the walls are left inscribed and graffitied. When it ends, no amount of scrubbing will purge the scrawled oaths and sketched images, but sooner or later, you find that there’s space for someone else, between the words and in the margins.’   —Tammara Webber, **Where You Are**_

 

Meanwhile, Jessica had just arrived home after partying all night. She was drunk, and so was Yoona, Tiffany, and Yuri who were also in the car with her. The only one who wasn’t drunk was Seohyun, who was driving them home. They were about to park in front of Jessica house when they saw someone coming out from her house into a car.

“ _Unnie_ , you see that, right?” Seohyun asked her sisters, “There’s a guy coming out from your house! Do you know him? _Omo_! What if he’s a bad guy? Is your sister alone at home?”

“ _Yah_ , Hyunnie! Stop scaring me like that! My parents were home, besides, I didn’t see him bringing something out of my house. Right, girls?” Jessica said somewhere between her consciousness and her drunken state.

The other girls nodded in unison. Yuri added with slurred voice, “Trust me, a bad guy didn’t look like that.”

“ _Ne_ ,” Yoona chimed in, “But why do I feel like I’ve seen that car somewhere before...”

Seohyun took a deeper look to the car before it set off. She had a glimpse of its license plate, then she rememberred, “Oh! It’s Yong _oppa_ ’s car!”

“Huuhh?” The girls yelped together as if they were on cue.

“Hyunnie... don’t be ridiculous. Why would Yong _oppa_ at the front of my house? I had nothing to do with him. Nothing!” Jessica exclaimed.

“I know, _unnie_. Besides all of CNBLUE members were in Japan right now. Huh, that was weird. I was pretty sure that it was his car.”

“ _Eyy_... Hyunnie, you’re still in contact with Yong _oppa_ , don’t you?” Tiffany teased their _maknae_ and laughing hard. “At least, you’re stick to one guy, unlike this loser beside me,” she pointed to Yoona who was glaring at him. Yuri and Jessica laughed hard as Yoona pulled Tiffany’s hair out of anger.

“ _Yah, unnie_ , stop it both of you!” Seohyun tried to stop the girls, “ _God_! Seriously, when will any of you start to grow up?”

“Maybe next time, _ahjumma_! Aahahahahha... ” Yuri shouted from the top of her lungs looking at the frustrated _maknae_. Jessica laughed along with her while she was struggling to open the car door and bid her goodnight to her girls, leaving Seohyun all alone with all the mess.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This chapter consist of 9000++ words and almost 30 pages long, it was 3 times longer than my normal chapters. I hope it was enough to make up for the long wait. And I hope I didn't bore you off, I was just busy trying to lift up my awful mood these days.
> 
> PS: I don't know if f(x)'s manager is a girl or not and how do they call her.
> 
> PSS: Finally! The Rich Text Editor is back! Now you can just click the hyperlink to see how's the places looked like.
> 
> PSSS: I just knew that f(x)'s manager is a guy! All that I knew, all of SM's managers are guys.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The RTE was missing again. I would edit this chapter later, but if you're impatient, I suggest you to read this here: https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/680454/14

**Disclaimer: Own nothing.**

***

The young girls bowed politely at everyone they’ve met at the SBS Gayo Daejun. Luna _unnie_ made their way to their seats, which was placed at the very back of rows of well-dressed idols who attended the annual event. Soojung lined up last behind her members, her eyes wandering off to search a particular guy amongst these ocean of people.

There he was, she spotted her boyfriend seated on the far end of the second row with his members. An automatic smile was about to formed on her delicate lips, but it was quickly vanished when she saw that Minhyuk _oppa_ was seated right in between GD _oppa_ who was in front of him, and Kai who was exactly behind him. Soojung blanched, the sight made her heart freeze for a moment.

She took her seat, gulping nervously. Minhyuk _oppa_ still didn’t know about what had happen with her and those other boys, and thanked God that no one knew that they were in a real relationship now. She was watching the three boys if they even interacted at all; crossing her fingers all the time so that nothing bad would happen between them. For now, they seemed oblivious as they didn’t even acknowledge each other; for all she knew, they were just a mere acquiantances. She should feel a bit relieved that her seat was far away on the back and not anywhere near them; that way, she could observed the boys without no one noticing.

But her bad luck didn’t stop there. Her body went rigid when the person in front of her turned and greeted her cheerfully.

“ _Oh!_ Soojung- _ah_!”

It took all of her will to control her expression as to not scowl or spat at the sight of Suho _oppa_. She bowed rigidly to show her respect to the EXO leader, her voice had lost somewhere between her messed up head. As usual, Suho tried to open a conversation with her; she hummed and nodded at times, but really she wasn’t actually listening—a skill that she had mastered since she was young—and to be honest, her mind couldn’t process anything he had said at all.

She sat there for an hour an a half, balancing between supervising the boys on the far end—fortunately, GD _oppa_ had went to the backstage in less than an hour—listening to Suho _oppa_ , and trying to enjoy the show despite her worries. She caught Minhyuk _oppa_ ’s eyes a few times, and he was giving her the cutest eye-smile that she loves so much every single time, and she was trying to smile back at him when no one’s watching.

It wasn’t long until their turn to perform. She called the rest of her members to their waiting room for final rehearsal. Thankfully, their performances were flawless.

Backstage, the f(x) members went straight to their waiting room to rest. Soojung was a bit left behind, and she was busy bowing her thank you to the stage crews when she bumped into someone’s chest.

She looked up while chanting ‘I’m sorry’ to the man, only to found out that it was her own boyfriend.

“ _Oppa_!”

Both of them couldn’t help the big smile that immediately formed on their faces. They looked around to see if there’s someone watching them, then found themselves in a secluded corner to have a hug. Minhyuk leaned his face down to kiss her, but she stopped him by using her palm on his lips.

“ _Yah_ , _oppa_! Be careful... someone might see us,” she stepped back and once again scanning the area to make sure that there’s no one else nor a CCTV around them. She hit him squarely on the chest when he attempted another try.

He couldn’t help but to whine this time, “ _Yah_... why can’t I have a kiss from my own girlfriend?”

Soojung clicked her tounge, once again annoyed at his eagerness to kiss her every time they were alone. Not that she didn’t like it, but sometimes Minhyuk _oppa_ could be so reckless. She recalled that morning after their first date on Christmas, Sica _unnie_ said that she saw Yong _oppa_ ’s car was parked in front of their house, but thankfully she was too drunk to make sure of it. She reasoned this out to warn him and to be more careful.

“ _Ah...jinjja_?” Minhyuk rememberred about that time, too, “Yong _hyung_ also said that Seohyun saw it too, so he asked if it was me—“

“ _Mwo_?” Soojung clamped her mouth with her own hands as she realized that her voice was too loud for her liking, “So what did you say?” she asked with a hushed tone.

“I said I didn’t take his car,” he shrugged.

Soojung hit his arm, “Would he believe that?! _Yah_ , your dorm was filled with cameras, what if he checked them out?”

Minhyuk had the guts to chuckle at her, “There were too many of them. Yong _hyung_ was too lazy to do something like that.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Don’t worry about it,” he rubbed reassuring hands on both of her arms. He then fished out something out of his pocket then give it to her, “Here’s your key. By the way, do you have a day off next week? I’m going to take you out on our second date...”

Soojung’s face gleamed at the mention of another date, but decided not to show it by pursing her lips, “Does it have to be on a weekend?”

“Nope. I honestly preferred a weekday, but if it’s the only day you’re available, it’s okay then.”

“Well, I need to see my schedule since I’ll have a photoshoot in London next week, so probably a few days before that?”

“Okay, call me when you’ve had settled a date,” his phone was ringing at the time, he saw that it was Yong _hyung_ , “ _Ah_... it’s too bad. I have to go, it’s my turn to perform after this. Do you want to go first or should I?”

She told him that she was going first, but took a second to warn him, “Wait for 5 minutes after I’m gone, okay?”

“ _Ara_ ,” he smiled, then surprising her by stealing a kiss from her. She was about to scold him once again for that, but Minhyuk told her to be quick since his _hyungs_ was probably wondering where he was.

 _Ugh, that sneaky, handsome, annoying bastard_.

She stomped her way back to her group, passed through the staff that were scattering around. One of them seemed to know her, but Soojung didn’t notice the girl. The girl shrugged it off, thinking that she could greet her later, then went on her way to where Soojung had appeared from. She was startled when she found herself face to face with none other than Kang Minhyuk of CNBLUE, with his phone attached to his ear. He seemed to be in a rush, even so he bowed to her politely anyway, and she bowed back, stunned.

This looked like a repeated scene from weeks earlier, when she was being a staff for The Heirs filming.

It came down to her that could it be... the couple still maintaining their relationship _after_ the filming?

She immediately took her phone out then browsed to a certain forum where usually consisted of staff and crew members from various media. Most of them are her friends, and apparently some of them also had gotten suspicious about these two idols.

 

Oh my God, you wouldn’t believe what I just saw in SBS Gayo Daejun!

I saw Kang Minhyuk and Jung Krystal came out from the same place. Again!

Remember when I told you guys about that time while I was in The Heirs crews?

This is exactly just like that!

 

 _Omo!_ I know, right? I think I saw them too on Christmas night in Cheong-gye cheon...

 

 _Oh!_ Me too, me too! I wasn’t sure back then since it was at midnight, but if someone else’s saw them too, then it might be really them, right?

 

Wah! Are they dating for real?

 

Did you take some pictures?

 

I didn’t. It was dark, so I thought it was useless.

 

Ah... that’s too bad...

***

On New Year’s eve, Kang Minhyuk was just came home from SBS Drama Awards when Heechul _hyung_ called him to come over. The other CNBLUE members had gone to a party somewhere in downtown Seoul, leaving him all alone in his dorm. He decided to take out on Heechul’s offer. He changed his clothes into something comfortable then went off to Heechul’s dorm not so far from his.

They spent the night watching LOL Championship, some people believed that watching it during New Year’s eve would bring them a marvelous year, but really, it was only an excuse for people like him who didn’t have anything else better to do.

Heechul brought him a drink; he was already a bit tipsy from the beers, that’s why he was recording him while watching TV, “Wahh... _uri_ Minhyukkie is really handsome!” He laughed hysterically when Minhyuk trying to take the phone out from him and turned it off, face reddened in an instant. But even in his early state of drunkeness, Heechul’s hand was faster. He turned his body around and out of Minhyuk’s reach, uploading the short video to his SNS account.

Then he found another idea, “Oh! I should send this to Soojung!”

That make the drummer boy jumped out of his seat to prevent his _hyung_ from doing so; Heechul successfully running away from him with his fingers tapping on his phone to find Soojung’s number. They were playing cat and mouse around the room, and finally Minhyuk had caught up with him and took the phone away, only to find out that the video had been ‘sent’.

Heechul was grinning from ear to ear as Minhyuk hang his head low, feeling kind of defeated.

“ _Yah_ , _hyung_! Why are you being like this?”

Heechul plopped himself down to the couch, patting a seat beside him to the younger boy, “Ahh... Minhyukkieee... you’re absolutely no fun...” he protested in his slurred voice, “You didn’t drink the beers, you didn’t let me recording you and what is this? Are you really came here just to watch TV? _Yah_ , you could’ve just watch it in your own dorm...”

“ _Yah_ _hyung_ , you’re the one who had invited me over, and now you’re kicking me out?”

“It’s not that,” Heechul dismissed him with an uncoordinated waved of his hand, “But you’re just too dense. Seriously. The only time I saw you looked so happy was that time when we’re filming your drama.”

“ _Jinjja_?” Minhyuk scoffed openly on his statement, “ _Hyung_ , you barely know me at all. I’m perfectly happy with my life right now.”

“ _Arasseo_... but that was the first time I saw _you_ could open up with other people like that. If it wasn’t for that, and for Soojung to brought up that side of you in front of my eyes, I wouldn’t want to invite you over.”

Minhyuk stared blankly at Heechul; he was so straight forward that Minhyuk couldn’t find any words to counter his brutal, honest opinion. He hid his sad face behind his hand, bending his head down and jutted his lower lip a bit. He knew he wasn’t that kind of person to have fun with; he was too shy to even try, that’s why he wanted to be friends with people like Heechul.

“ _Hyung_ , why are you so mean to me?”

Heechul burst into a fit of laughters, patting the younger boy’s back playfully. His laughter only died down when a ringing sound echoed throughout the room. Their eyes searched for the forgotten phone that was left on the dining table. He answered the phone as he walked back to the couch where Minhyuk was, a smirk plastered on his lips, “ _Youbuseyo? Soojung-ah_!!”

“ _Yah, oppa_! _What was that?!_ ”

Heechul’s eyes watching Minhyuk’s reaction as his small eyes widened a bit, “ _Yah_ , is that how you greet your _sunbae_ , Soojung-ah? Not even a ‘Happy New Year’ for me?”

“ _Happy New Year, Heechul oppa_...” Heechul laughed hearing her exaggerated, half-hearted, sweetened voice, “ _Now tell me, why did you send me that video? Is Minhyuk oppa with you there?_ ”

“ _Wae_? You should’ve thanked me for that, he looked absolutely handsome in that video, right?”

It’s awesome how Heechul could tease 2 people in different places at the same time; he could imagined how red she must be, just as red as the young boy in front of him. “Do you want to talk to him?”

“ _Mwo?!_ ”

Heechul offered his phone to Minhyuk just before he could hear any of their refusal. Without no choice, Minhyuk took the phone reluctantly, “ _Youbuseyo_? Soojungie? _Ne_ , it’s me.”

Heechul raised a brow as he watched their interaction intently. Minhyuk glanced worriedly at him every once in a while, looking so uncomfortable with him there. Even so, Heechul noticed that the awkwardness couldn’t stop him from smiling automatically, just like what he had said from that TV show.

“ _Yah, oppa, what are you doing with Heechul oppa? Did he find out about us?_ ”

“I don’t know, he’d just invited me over all of a sudden,” Minhyuk fidgeting on his seat, making Heechul wished he could hear what they were talking about. “So, how’s China?”

So, they _did_ keep in contact with each other. Another thing that Heechul had gathered so far.

“ _It was great, I guess. We’ll be back to Korea tomorrow night. Oh! Oppa, I’ve heard you won Best Rookie Awards from SBS. Is that true?_ ”

“Oh, you’ve heard that? Wah... news did spread so fast...”

“ _Wahh! Chukkae, oppa! I’m so proud of you..._ ”

A grin formed on Minhyuk’s lips; his postur relaxed for a second, but it turned back to rigid when he saw a questioning stare from Heechul.

“Nah... it’s all thanks to you, Jungie-yah...”

Heechul was taken aback to hear him calling her like that. _How close they were actually?_ The only people who ever called her that were her sister and the f(x)’s member. Even Heechul himself had never been _that_ close to her to have that privilege.

“ _Ah, oppa, I’m sorry. I have to go now. Oppa, you need to be careful with Heechul oppa, okay? He’s really, really sneaky. Aissh... jinjja, I’m going to kill him someday. Annyeong, oppa, Happy New Year!_ ”

“Happy New Year...” Minhyuk tapped the red button on Heechul’s phone and gave it back to its owner. He was confused to see the dumbstruck look on his _hyung_ ’s face, “ _Wae_?”

“Did she...? _Yah!_ Did she hang up on me just like that? _Yah,_ Kang Minhyuk! Did you forget that you were talking with her with _my_ phone?! _Aiishh_... these little punk, _jinjja_...”

Minhyuk did escape from Heechul’s playful punch, “She was in a rush, _hyung_. Besides, it’s you who told me to talk with her. Seriously, what’s wrong with you?” he mumbled the last sentence as so not to be heard by the older guy, but he did.

“ _Aiishh_... this ungrateful brat. I just helped you to get closer with Soojung, and this is what I’ve got?”

Minhyuk barely kept his poker face to hear what Heechul had just said. He wanted to tell him that he had already handled her just fine, but he didn’t want to hurt his _hyung_ feeling. Besides, he would only be revealing his secret relationship with Soojung if he did that. But he was curious, “Why did you think that I need help, _hyung_?”

“Because you’re absolutely not her type,” Heechul said earnlestly, unaware that Minhyuk now had sported a frown on his forehead, “She really really likes someone who had a ‘bad boy’ image. There’s a lot of boys who had a crush on her but she didn’t even give them a glance just because they’re not her type. And you Minhyuk, you’re the epitome of what a good guy should be. I honestly thought that you wouldn’t have any chance with her, but since she seemed a bit interested with you, so I thought I should’ve just help. You’re one of the guy who everyone wanted her to be with.”

Well, that was a lot to take for Minhyuk. He surely didn’t know that he wasn’t even Soojung’s type, but she did accept him to be her boyfriend. So, what does it all mean? She either likes him that much or she was just playing with him since he’s the one who was chasing her? Or worse, did she date him just because she knew that he was the one person that everyone she knew would’ve approve of? He didn’t know if he should be flattered or being absolutely worried about this.

“So...” Minhyuk hesitated to ask this question, so he gathered up his courage, “You said that I’m one of the guy that everyone wanted her to be with? Who is everyone? And does it mean that these people have tried to paired her off with someone else?”

Heechul seemed to think about it, he took a long deep breath before he answered, “Well, not exactly. We’ve never really paired her off with someone who didn’t have any _potential_ , like with Suho, because it was obvious that she didn’t like her. We thought that Minho would get a real chance with her, but they decided that they didn’t see each other that way. What bothers me the most was Kai, he had everything that Soojung would like; the bad boy exterior, but actually a good boy inside. It’s too bad that he didn’t seem to have any interest with her...”

Suho, Minho, Kai. Suho, Minho, Kai. Suho, Minho, Kai. It wasn’t hard to remember their names since Minhyuk had known them before, even though they weren’t that close. He thought that his real competitors was Suho since he was the one who had never given up; when he realized that Minho had a close relationship with her, even until now. They’ve had a CF filming recently, Soojung had told him herself, and he wondered how close they really were. And as for Kai, even though Heechul said that he didn’t seem to have any interest with her—which is unlikely, because it was so easy to fall for Soojung—he couldn’t get over the fact that Kai had everything that she would ask for.

Should he be worried?

He wanted to ask if there’s anyone else that he should’ve known about, but Heechul _hyung_ had already fast asleep on the couch, the alcohol in his system had finally gotten to his head. Minhyuk sighed. He wasn’t usually the type of guy who gets jealous over nothing. Soojung was simply too beautiful and too attractive for her own good that he couldn’t help to think if he was good—or rather, bad enough—for her to stay in this relationship for long? It’s not like he didn’t have any confident with his good looks, but with Heechul’s revelation earlier, what if someone else who was more her type came into her life? Would she leave him for that guy?

He took his phone out that was secured in his pocket, he didn’t want to take a risk if Heechul got to see the screensaver on his phone. It was a picture when he did steal a kiss on her lips, something that had become his habit, and she looked so happy in it. His lips twitched just with the thought of her lips, something stirred in his heart as the memory of them being together rushed to every cells in his brain, sending out a warm feeling within his blood. He suddenly craved for her presence, to see that pretty eyes staring back at him, to hear her tingling laugh that could light up his whole world, to hold her petite body within his arms, and his only.

He closed his eyes as a realization came down upon him.

 _Jesus Christ_ , he truly had fallen for her.

***

The next day they’ve awaken very late in the afternoon due to the blarring sound of a phone. Minhyuk was the first one to open his eyes to locate the damn phone, while Heechul’s hand grabbed all around the couch with his eyes closed. He found his phone to see who was calling, a series of curses escaped his mouth as his head suddenly felt like it was got beaten with a hundred trucks at the moment he opened his eyes. He didn’t care who was it though, so he tapped the reject button without looking then searched for the button to turn it off. After that, Heechul went back to his deep slumber.

After a while Minhyuk got up from the couch since his stomach had been growling for food. He had only eaten a cup of ramen last night, and skipped a breakfast this morning, so it wasn’t a surprise that he was famished right now. He rummaged through the kitchen and found just enough ingredients to make some omellete and soup. He checked the rice cooker to see if there’s any rice in there, and found nothing. He breathed a heavy sigh. It seemed like that he need to prepare everything for his late brunch.

He woke Heechul _hyung_ up once the food had been ready; he even managed to make some kind of hangover reliever that Jonghyun _hyung_ had once told him for Heechul. The older guy thanked him for the food and the reliever, and after Minhyuk was sure that Heechul was going to be alright if he left him all alone, only then he took his leave from Heechul’s dorm.

On his way to his own dorm, Minhyuk took out his phone to see if there’s any messages from his girlfriend. He was smiling to himself as he saw that Soojung had sent him the video that Heechul sent last night, below the video she added a few cute emoticons with hearts all over it. She also asked if he had fun last night and practically ordering him to call her if he had awaken. He tapped his reply on his smart phone, when someone called him from afar.

He recognized them as EXO members as they approached him. One of them, Kris  _hyung_ , patted him on his arm, “Minhyuk-ah, what are you doing here? Where is Yonghwa  _hyung_?”

Minhyuk knew that Kris  _hyung_  and Yonghwa  _hyung_  had been somewhat close since they’ve often played basketball together with the EXO members. Minhyuk and the others occasionally joined them, but they weren’t that close as Yong  _hyung_  did. He looked around and see that Kris were accompanied with Suho and Kai.  _Great_.

“Ah  _hyung_ , I was just on my way home from Heechul’s  _hyung_  apartment. And what about you, guys?”

“We’re just on our way back from SM office. Oh, I saw SBS Drama Awards last night. Congratulations for your winning, ahh it’s too bad that Soojung didn’t get one. Both of you looked so good in that drama.”

A tension was palpable in the air when Soojung’s name was mentioned. It seemed like Kris  _hyung_  was oblivious with it or he was doing it on purpose to tease both of his  _maknae_  who had ‘something’ with the girl. Minhyuk could see from the corner of his eyes how Suho glared openly at his  _hyung_ , while Kai who was standing behind a few steps from his  _hyungs_  staring straight at Minhyuk with his jaw clamped shut.

Minhyuk kept his cool and calm act in front of them, bowed his thanks to Kris, “Thank you,  _hyung_. I'm sorry, but I need to go now. See you later?”

“Oh,  _ne._ You should play basketball with us sometimes. It's been so long since we play together,” Minhyuk just nodded his affirmation to Kris, not sure if he would take up his offer after what he had learn last night. He bowed to him once, followed with a slight nod to Suho.

The two of them walked ahead leaving Kai behind. Kai didn’t do anything to acknowledge him whatsoever, but Minhyuk couldn’t care less. He was about to walk passed him when Kai purposefully bumped him on the shoulder. Hard.

Minhyuk rolled his eyes and stopped to face him.  _How rude_. He knew that Kai was younger than him, and he wouldn’t bothered if he didn’t greet him politely like a  _maknae_  always do to their  _sunbae_ , but bumping into him like that was a little bit too much.

“What was that?” Minhyuk confronted him, as far as he knows he didn’t have any problem with this  _kid_. Minhyuk was the only one who was fully aware of their real situation here, so he couldn’t find any reason for Kai to behave like that towards him.

“ _Hyung_ ,” he finally looked at Minhyuk in the eye, but he couldn’t find any sort of remorse from his eyes, “I saw you with Soojung the other day.” Kai’s voice was barely a whisper so that no one could hear him except for Minhyuk. He tilted his head, face as unreadable as ever, “Are you dating her?”

 _So he knew_. Minhyuk’s expression gave nothing about his answer. He  _is_  a great actor, so he could keep his composure better as he responded, “What are you talking about?”

Now it was Kai’s turned to roll his eyes. A bitter smirk formed on his lips. Kai was about to say something, but he was interrupted by Suho  _hyung_. The other two boys had walked several feet away from him when they realized that Kai didn’t follow them.

“ _Yah_ , Kai. What are you doing?”

“ _Ne_ ,  _hyung_. I’ll be right behind you,” Kai shouted back. He gave one last look at Minhyuk from head to toe, let out a scoff before he finally turned away and walked off to his fellow members.

Minhyuk stared sternly at the boy’s back, while Kris and Suho gave off a questioning look to each other.

Minhyuk was right. There’s no way that  _he_  didn’t have any interest with Soojung.

Well, at least, now he knew where he should keep his eyes on.

***


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: Still own nothing. I'm just living in my delusional mind. Not so explicit scenes ahead, consider yourself warned.**

***

As promised, Minhyuk took her on a second date just a few days before her departure to London. He picked her up not too early in the morning—after Soojung lied again to her family that she was going to have a dance practice for the Golden Disk Awards which will be held about a week later. Soojung insisted that she would meet him a few blocks away from her house so her family won’t see him. They had their breakfast which she had prepared especially for him inside Yonghwa’s car on the side of Han river. As expected, there weren’t too many people hanging out around there at winter morning on a busy weekday.

Minhyuk took her up on a ride with a tandem bike despite the cold weather. They had some difficulties what with their thick clothes which prevent them to push the pedal liberally. It was a slow, ridiculous experience, but Soojung admitted that she had a lot of fun with him. She always did. And Minhyuk said that it’s only in the morning; he had their whole day planned for this date.

She was so excited for whatever it is in store for her. After their first date last month, she knew that he would set up his standards higher this time. She didn’t expecting much though; these days, there’s nothing more perfect than spending a whole day with Kang Minhyuk, her lovely boyfriend.

Tired and freezing after a few hours around the Han river, they went to grab a lunch at a nearby cafe on the side of the river. Even if it seemed like there’s not too many people around, Minhyuk was the one who placed an order to the cafe for a take away meal, while Soojung waited patiently in the car. They needed to be more cautious since it was on a broad daylight; people would still recognized them even if they covered their faces. In fact, people would be even more suspicious if they did. Once he received his orders, Minhyuk drove her to a secluded spot still alongside the Han river, where they could enjoy their lunch privately.

“ _Oppa_ ,” Soojung put down her chopsticks once she finished her lunch, then threw it along with the lunchbox to a plastic bag once she had finished it, “I’ve been watching Cheongdamdong 111 lately. Did you really give your Jeguk High uniform for the auction?”

She had been wanting to ask this ever since she saw that particular episode. How those AOA girls looking at her boyfriend extremely disturbed her, not to mention that Minhyuk _oppa_ had willingly gave up the precious uniform just a month after the drama ended. Otherwise, Soojung had been treating her uniform like some kind of treasure, cleaned and ironed meticulously so that no wrinkles would be seen, hanging within a transparent bag for her own private display in her closet. It was sacred for her, a lovely reminder of how she met him; and the fact that he didn’t keep his even for a while made her felt like he wanted to get rid of their memories much too soon.

He looked calm as he’s still got his attention to his food, his mouth moved in sync as he chewed the food as if her question was nothing. She couldn’t help but be disappointed at his response, “ _Oh_ , I did. I heard that it was sold at the highest price than the rest. Isn’t it great?”

 _Heol_ , he had the audacity to smile happily like that. Soojung didn’t smile in return, she stared at him with a hint of sadness around her eyes that Minhyuk gulped his food down nervously, “ _Wae_? What’s wrong?”

She hit him on his arm unceremoniously, screaming and stomping her feet madly like a hormonal teenage girl, “You still need to ask ‘what’s wrong’?! _Yah_ , how could you do that? Uuugggghhhh....!”

“ _Yah, yah, yah_ ,” Minhyuk put down his lunchbox on the dashboard before it fell out of his grip due to her painful punches. He tried to calm her down by catching both of her wrists in his hands, “Seriously, what’s wrong with you?”

Wrong move. That question only fuelled up her anger as she tried to release his grip on her with no avail.

“There’s nothing wrong with me! It’s all yours!”

“Fine!” Minhyuk finally quipped back, but he still didn’t let go of her. Instead, he moved his hands to hold hers as he tried to make her look him in the eye. His voice soften as she stilled in his arms, pouting, “But at least tell me what did I done wrong so I can fix it. Hm?”

Soojung still pouting her lips angrily, “You can’t fix it.”

“Why?”

“Because you can’t take back something that you’ve given for charity! Aiishh!”

Soojung flipped her head to avoid looking him in the eye. For God’s sake, why did men are so clueless? And here she thought that he was a smart and considerate one. Pffttt!

It took a few moments for the insensitive boyfriend of hers to realize what she was referring to. Then he started to burst out laughing. See? _See_? Soojung gritted her teeth with a frown on her forehead, absolutely pissed off with his reaction.

He didn’t even try to hide his laugh for her sake, “Seriously? You’re mad at me because of that? Really, Jungie-yah? _Yah_ , it was just an uniform, it’s not like we’re going to wear it ever again.”

And that’s how it hit her hard like a slap on her face. So that was it. He really didn’t think of it as a precious memory; it was _just_ an uniform for him. It was probably true that they weren’t going to wear it ever again, but she wanted to feel like they’ve possessed something similar, something that would make her feel like they were a couple. She really loved that uniform, both of them looked really good in it and it was the very first thing that they could count as similar as a couple shirt without anyone being suspicious.

And he thought that it was _just_ an uniform.

Soojung shoved his hand away the next time he was trying to put his arm around her shoulders; she really couldn’t stand him right now.

“Soojung-ah... c’mon, you’re being sentimental. It’s just an—“

She put her palm out to his face before he finished his sentence, “Stop it, _oppa_. If you ever say _that_ again, I swear I’m going to go home right here, right now. Tsk, you really know how to ruin a date...”

Minhyuk released a heavy sigh seeing her antics. She had her body fully turned to face the front of the car, completely ignoring him who was trying to lift up her mood. She shoved his hands away everytime he tried to hold hers, turned her back on him once he tried to pull her closer to him. He was really lost on what to do with her; it’s unbelievable that they would have a fight over something as silly as uniform.

“Do you want to go to the tea house? You said you really like it there—“ Minhyuk tried to bribe her, but immediately shut his mouth up as she didn’t even budge.

“Ah... it’s too bad. I was going to take you to go see a movie, but since you were being like this...” there’s still no response from her, “...do you know that there’s a themed theatre where you could have the whole studio for yourself? I think it’s a nice place for us since no one would bother us then...”

“What about shopping? You like shopping, right? I’ll buy you anything you want, how was it?”

“...”

Minhyuk threw his own body back to the driver’s seat, thinking of any other ways to persuade her. He had manifested a lot of time to plan their date today, and it wouldn’t do if his girlfriend had lost interest in it. He stared at his long forgotten lunch, there’s nothing much left in there, but he had lost his appetite to finish it. He grabbed the lunchbox and threw it to the plastic bag where Soojung had put hers into, then he went out of the car to threw it to the trash bin outside. He took his time to breathe in a long fresh air, hoping that it would clear his mind off of things.

How did it end up like this? He had no idea.

Should he give up and just take her home now? Her mood swings had gotten into him, maybe some time alone would make her feel a little bit better. But then, it would be hard to have a perfect day to spend together like this ever again, and the thought that he needed to start a perfect date plan all over again was enough to give him a headache.

With a new determination, he walked back to the car. He saw her still looking out at the window, still pretending like he didn’t exist. Then he did something that she would’ve never expected: he put one of his arms behind her back and the other under her knees, she gasped as he lifted her up carefully and propped her down on his lap on the driver’s seat.

“ _Oppa_!”

He ignored her protest as he fixed their position with her back resting comfortably to the driver’s door, her legs lay across him and her feet dangling on the passenger’s seat. He put her arms around his neck so that she could latch herself on him to prevent her from falling, while his encircled around her waist, drawing her closer to him, chest to chest.

“What are you doing—“

Then he shut her up with a full on mouth kiss. Her toes curled as soon as his lips met hers; all of a sudden she had forgotten that she was upset. It was unfair really, how easy it was for him to melt her heart in a single kiss. She felt like she was damned, because she didn’t even have the strength to resist him. In no time, he bit her lower lip gently and slipped his tounge to meet hers. It was a full battle of lips, tounge, and teeth, each seeking for a domination. Her heart was beating uncontrollably as she was practically writhing on his lap and his hand roamed all over her back, the other one holding her neck gently to caress the exposed skin. Suddenly it wasn’t enough. They pulled their bodies impossibly closer, seeking for each other’s body heat, creating a delicious friction that neither of them knew they’ve been craving for.

He set her skin on fire as his hand slipped down from her neck to her hip, and keep going down her body line to her thigh. She yelped a sigh when he squeezed her there, just above the knee, then moved back up to her waist. She could feel his hands slipped through her thick coat and underneath her shirt, and she swore something stirred between her legs as his hand found her skin and his thumb rubbing delicious circles around her stomach. A moan escaped from her sweet little mouth when his hand moved up and down underneath her clothes, trailing dangerously on her lower breast line and upper hip.

It drove the both of them crazy.

His lips travelled south from her lips to nibble on his favourite spot on her neck, using one of his hand to push her hair aside while he buried his face down there and tasted her skin. Her fingers raking through his hair painfully as she arched her neck, keeping him where he is now unconsciously. _God_ , she was so hot and each second he could feel himself growing hard down there, and before he realized it, he grind himself up to her crotch.

“ _Ah_!”

The electricity shot up from her legs up to her consciousness, her eyes popping open in ecstasy to find stars at the ceiling of the car. _Oh my God_! She was so turned on she squeezed her thighs together involuntarily. Minhyuk _oppa_ ’s hands still dancing around her body to find more flesh while his lips moved up to kiss her jaw before it finally landed on her ear.

She shivered when he whispered with his husky voice, “Should we continue this for the rest of our date?”

 _Tempting_. It would be so easy to give in to her instincts and let him does whatever it is he was doing now. The thought of being drown in his arms was so appealing that she realized that her hands didn’t tremble as much as she did the last time. Apparently, her body had put the green light on; the way he held her felt oh so good she didn’t want to be anywhere else but to be with him. However, her heart kept saying no.

Gripping his shoulders hard with both of her hands, she finally found the will to stop her insatiable boyfriend, looking him in the eye then mumbling, “You’re playing dirty.”

He chuckled smugly, “I didn’t hear you’re complaining.”

“Ugh,” it’s her turn now to bury her face to his neck to hide her embarrassment, “I _hate_ you.”

He pulled her closer once again and smirked on her ear, “You _can’t_ hate me.”

And that was probably true. She hated the fact the she can’t stay mad at him for long, especially if he was kissing her like that. To make things worse, he was well aware of her weakness and the way she fell for it far too soon was unhealthy. Liking him this much was scary; she was putting her heart on so much danger if her feelings for him grew any deeper than this. Especially when there’s no guarantee of where is this thing going, and when there’s so much more on the line for both of them.

As much as she liked their position, she shifted her back on him so that both of them facing the steering wheel. The space was cramped for both of them, still he resumed his activity on nibbling on her neck and doing wonders with his hands, “Are you still mad at me?”

 “I don’t know,” she answered truthfully, trying to control her breathing with his torturous ministrations.

“Would it make you feel better if I bought it back?”

She turned her head to glare at him, “Don’t be silly, _oppa_.”

He pecked her on the lips, “What if I made another one exactly like that?”

“Tsk, that’s not the point,” she was losing her patience all over again, adding, “You can’t make old memories on a new stuff...”

It took a moment when he _finally_ got what she was fussing about, “So that’s what it is. I’m so sorry, I didn’t think of it that way,” he propped his chin on her shoulder, his fingers intertwined around her waist and squeezed her tight, “I couldn’t think of anything else that was more valuable for me back then...”

“ _Oppa_ , you have a lot of fans. They would be happy with _anything_.”

“I know. But none of my stuff would be priced as high as the uniform was. Besides, it’s for charity, I can’t give them something cheap, right?”

“Tsk, just admit that you can’t refuse those girls, right? What did they do to convince you, huh? Did they seduce you with their ‘miniskirt’? Aisshh... guys these days...”

Minhyuk furrowed his brows, oblivious of what she’s talking about, “Girls? What girls?” Soojung gave him a stern look when it registered on his mind. He couldn’t hide his amused laugh at his own revelation, “You mean AOA? Are you really being jealous of them? _Jinjja_?”

“Who said I was jealous? I was just a bit disappointed that you could be swayed easily like that...”

“Jungie-yah,” he set a playful smirk at her, “You do realize that you are _way_ far prettier and sexier than them, right?”

Soojung rolled her eyes, “Cheesy lines won’t work on me, _oppa_...”

“Hm... but my kisses will do,” he put his thumb on her chin, turned her head towards him so he could kiss her softly, and like magic, he could feel her body relaxed in his arms.

They stayed like that for a while, holding each other in comfortable silence. Minhyuk swayed their bodies side by side, breathing the soft scent of her hair, occasionally soothing her with his kisses on her temple, cheeks, lips, and neck. He hoped it would be enough to make her anger subsided soon, better yet, he wished she would see of how much he really likes her. He knew that eventhough she likes him too, she also had a lot of doubts on him. It was acceptable though, this is the first time she’s been in a relationship, so it was understandable if she was kind of afraid to trust him with her feelings. Well at least, he hoped that that was her reason to hold back; and not because she still harboured some feelings for some other boys.

It was still afternoon, and they’ve still got a few hours before it’s getting dark. Minhyuk then asked her of what she wanted to do, knowing that his plan to take her on a movie date had to be cancelled.

Soojung looked at the steering wheel, gathering her courage before he flipped her face to ask him, “Would you like to teach me how to drive, then?”

He blinked. Clearly, he didn’t expect that. Soojung looking at him with her wide, innocent eyes, biting her lips as if she was afraid if he would say no. Well, it’s not like he didn’t want to, but it’s Yonghwa _hyung_ ’s car; he would surely kill him if he ever found a scratch on his beloved car.

Minhyuk cleared his throat, “Uhm... have you ever learned how to drive before?”

She shook her head, indicated that she had no idea on how to drive a car at all. She had asked Sica _unnie_ to teach her a few times before, but knowing her sister’s driving skill—which wasn’t that good either—she was kind of afraid of her own safety. She couldn’t think of anyone else who could teach her; her father was busy, her mother didn’t even know how to use the car key to open the door, her manager was too afraid to take responsibility if something happen, and her band members didn’t even trust her to get anywhere near the driver’s seat. There’s no way she would ask a favor to her fellow _oppa_ s in the agency, too much rumour would be raised. So when she saw how good of a driver her boyfriend is, she had been thinking of asking him. He was her only chance, afterall.

“Well...” the gears in his brain working rapidly to refuse her without hurting her feelings, “Can we do it later? I mean, I’ll borrow someone else’s car who would most likely not kill me if we scratched her car—“

“—her car?” Soojung snapped back at him at the mention of some other girl, “Who do you mean with _her_?” she raised her voice at the last word.

“Oh, it’s Song Eunni _noona_. She had a simpler car for you to learn, and she’ll definitely would be okay if I borrow her car for a day—“

“ _Yah!_ ” Soojung stomped her feet angrily, his feet barely escaped hers, “ _Are you seriously going to take me into some other woman’s car? Do you wish to die?!_ ”

Minhyuk clamped his mouth shut as Soojung sulked and throwing tantrums because of his big mistake. He should’ve never mentioned her name, no, he should’ve never suggested the idea in the first place. Borrowing his _hyung_ ’s car for their date was bad enough; borrowing some other woman’s car would be cruel, both for that woman and his girlfriend. Stupid Kang Minhyuk, he scolded himself. He should’ve bought his own car, as soon as possible.

“Jungie-yah...” he tried again.

“Forget it! I want to go home!” Soojung folded her arms in front of her chest, putting some distance between her back which was no longer resting comfortably on his chest. There’s a palpable tension in the air as he saw her cold shoulders.

But don’t call him Kang Minhyuk if he was giving up so easily. He closed their distance by drawing her back to him despite her protest. She finally relented after a few times, his arms held her in a tight grip, “ _Mianhe_...”

She let him hugged her from behind, but keep the angry act by curling her lips in annoyance. She knew that Minhyuk _oppa_ is a _noona_ killer; a lot of older women fangirling over him and what bothered her the most is he didn’t seem to mind about it. He was playing along with them out of respect, but she didn’t like it. No matter how many times she told herself that there’s no way her boyfriend liked them more than her, but she couldn’t help herself but questioning his feelings towards her.

“Why do you like me anyway, _oppa_? You said so yourself that you like older women,” she inquired. She didn’t know what to expect of his answer, she just wanted to know the truth.

She could feel his hot breath on her ear as he squeezed her tighter, contemplating his answer, “Uhm... because you’re pretty?” he chuckled when she gave him a death glare instead of a smile, “I don’t know. Do I need to have a reason to like you?”

“ _Oppa_...” she whined at his absurd answer, “There must be some reason why. If it’s just because I’m pretty, then you’re going to fall for any pretty girls you’ve met, aren’t you?”

He thought for a minute that she does have a point. Then he said the first thing that came into his mind, “I’m not sure, but I think it’s because you make me so happy? You make me laugh a lot, even when you’re mad at me. I just couldn’t help it. It came out naturally.”

“ _Mwo ya_?” she prostested, not really satisfied with his answer, “Am I just a joke to you? Seriously, stop making fun of me...”

He laughed again and pinched her nose playfully, “See? See? This is what I’m talking about. Everything you do could make me laugh, even if you did it unintentionally. Trust me, I’ve never felt so ease around girls before, let alone to laugh freely like I always did with you.”

“Geez, you’re such a sweet talker,” Soojung still didn’t believe him, “I’ve seen you joking around with Shin Hye _unnie_ with my own eyes, and I’ve seen on TV how you’re interacted with Song Eunni _unnie_ and you seemed to enjoy it every single time. Don’t even think that you can lie to me, _oppa_...”

The everlasting smile that was plastered on his lips grew wider to hear her statement, “I’m doing it out of respect. Older women usually thought of me as their little brother, so they acted all playful and sisterly when they were around me, and I have to say that I like it. While young girls like you...” he pinched her nose lightly, “...were usually a bit timid and shy. Besides, younger girls like you usually fall for the bad boy types, don’t you?”

She was taken aback that he questioned her back. She diverted her eyes from his curious stare, then slumped back in his embrace, “I’m not like most girls. You’re not a bad boy, but I still like you, right?”

“ _Jinjja_? You didn’t have any feelings towards anyone else who might be more of your type?”

She flipped her head to look at him in the eye and asked him back, “Would I be here and let you kiss me if I did? _Oppa_... why are you being like this?”

Minhyuk just smiled misteriously without giving her any answer. Instead, he kissed her on the lips one more time, then changed the topic, “So, you said that you want to learn how to drive, right?”

“But, you said—“

“It’s okay, I’ll guide you with every step and you need to listen to my every words carefully, understand?”

She nodded enthusiastically as Minhyuk _oppa_ told her the basics such as where’s the gas pedal and the brake, and how to use the hand gears. He also told her the difference between automatic and manual car, before he instructed her to put her feet above his on the pedal so that she would feel how much pressure she should give while driving. He then put his hands on top of hers on the steering wheel and taught her how to change gears and use the hand brake. After she get the feel of it, he gave her his consent to start the engine and practiced what he had taught her.

They spent the last hours teaching her how to drive until evening came. Soojung still needed a lot of practice before he’d let her driving alone without his guidance, but at least, she had learned the basics. She looked quite happy that she had her first driving lesson with him, even though he scolded her a lot for being panicky, but she didn’t mind. She couldn’t wait for their next session to improve herself.

When dinner time had come, Minhyuk _oppa_ took her on a reserved room in a Korean restaurant in downtown Seoul. They came in separately as to not attract people’s attention, so when Soojung came in, Minhyuk _oppa_ had already in the room with their foods already served on the dining table and no one would interrupt them, not even the waitress. They took their time to finish their food while enjoying the scenery from the 5th floor through the glass window, relinquished in each other’s company.

It was already 9 p.m. when they finished their dinner and got out of the restaurant. Full, tired, and satisfied, she thought their date was over and he was going to take her home, when he stopped the car to a familiar place. She looked at him questioningly; the place now dark and empty. If they came a bit earlier, they would find this place so crowded with people, colorful lights covering the whole places brightly. She was confused, the place was closed for the night, so why did he bring her here?

He grabbed her hands and led her to sneak into the building through what seemed like a back door. He put his index finger on his lips to tell her to keep silent when he pushed the unlocked door open easily and pulled her inside. Like an expert, he found the lights switch and turn it all on, and she gasped.

With a smug smile on his face he said, “You said you wanted to play ice skating. Well, this might not be an outdoor ice rink as you asked for, but this is the only place where the owner was generous enough to let me rent it for a few hours.”

Soojung still couldn’t take her eyes off around the beautifully lit place. Mouth agape in awe, still couldn’t believe that _he_ would do something as grand as this, to rent the whole ice rink just for her. She used to practice here with her partner for the ‘Kiss and Cry’ show, and even though she had her own fair of having the rink as her stage, it felt different somehow. Without the judge, without the audience, without her coach and her partner, and without the other contenders to share with, she felt like a kid in a candy house. It felt surreal, this is what she had been dreaming of since she was little, to have an ice rink all for herself.

Minhyuk _oppa_ blocked her view from her dream land, searching for her face with that warm eye-smile of his, “So... do you like it?”

She nodded her head vigorously, speechless. This wonderful boyfriend of hers, who she barely knew, had given her something and everything that everyone else’s had failed to fulfill: comfort, and now this. She didn’t know if this is his pure luck or if he already knew about her skating skill, all she knew that she was so lucky to have him as her boyfriend. He might not be everything that she had been portrayed as an ideal boyfriend, but unexpectedly, she found her dreams came true one by one with him. And she thanked God that she had given herself a chance to be with him, she knew now that she would never regret it. Ever.

“Let’s play, shall we?” Minhyuk offered his arm for her like a gentleman in the 80’s movies, which she happily accepted, then he took her to choose their skating shoes. It’s too bad that she didn’t bring her own shoes, but well, who knew that he would take her here anyway?

They took a few laps around the rink hand in hand. Soojung teased him endlessly because apparently, he wasn’t that good in this sport. He had some trouble with coordinating his feet with his body, hence he was falling to the ground for the first few laps—and she laughed at him everytime—excusing himself that he just need some time to adapt since it’s been a long time he had played this game.

“ _Oppa_!” she glided gracefully towards him to help him standing on his feet, giggling to see his face reddened in shame. _Gosh, he’s really cute_! She offered both of her hands and pulled him up, “You should’ve never take me here if you don’t want to hurt yourself.”

“ _Yah_!” Minhyuk protested while gripping her hands to stay upright, “If I knew that you were this good, I would never take you here and hurt my pride like this.”

Soojung snorted, guys and their pride. This was the first time she saw him sulked. Usually, he was the one who had the upper hand and she was the one who sulked like a baby girl. Now that the table had turned, she knew why he loved to tease her then. If she looked half as cute as he is right now, no wonder if he couldn’t resist to cuddle and kiss her everytime she did so. That’s exactly how she felt right now, she wanted to tease him, kiss him, and tease him again. Sounds fun, huh?

She glided backwards, hands still holding his, helping him to find his balance as they slide together in the middle of the rink, “Are you saying that you really don’t know?”

“Know what?”

She stopped to look up at him, searching for his eyes, “That I’ve won first place in ‘Kiss & Cry’. You know, the skating competition with Kim Yuna?”

Minhyuk blinked, strucked in awe at the girl’s revelation, “You did?!”

Soojung clicked her tounge, “Eiyy... you really don’t know? Geez, everyone else’s know that. How come you, who claimed as my boyfriend, didn’t even know about that?”

“How would I know?” he tried to defend himself, “You’ve never told me. _Heol_ ,” he wiped his face with his hand after letting go of her grip, “I must have made a fool of myself in front of you. Aiishh...”

“ _Yah_...” she shouted at him when he left her in the middle of the ice rink, struggling his way to reach the way out, “Where are you going, _oppa_?” she chased after him in no time, “Are you mad at me? Really?”

He let out a breathy sigh before saying, “You should’ve told me.”

“Well, I thought you knew,” she jutted her lips out at him, “Besides, you’d never asked.”

“So, are you going to keep everything a secret if I’ve never ask about it? Are you going to let me found out everything about you from everyone else’s instead of you?”

Soojung furrowed her brows to see him snapped at her like that. She was confused, she had no idea what was it he’s talking about, “But, it’s not like I’m trying to keep it a secret from you, _oppa_... We’ve simply had never talked about it, why are you getting so riled up about this? You scared me...”   

“It’s not— Look,” Minhyuk put his hands on both of her arms, bending himself down to her eye-level, “I just wanted to know you better, and I wanted to hear them straight from your mouth or see it with my own eyes. Trust, is something crucial in a relationship, and the only way to gain trust is by being honest to each other. I’m sorry if I’m scaring you, I’m just- right now, I feel like I didn’t know you at all...”

“But you do know me... Just give it some time, _oppa_...”

Minhyuk could only give her a half-hearted smile, he really wished that he knew her better to know if she was lying or not. He did feel like he had figure her out, but since what Heechul _hyung_ had said to him, and now this, he started to doubt himself: did he really knew her true self or is it only a side of her that she wanted to show him?

“I’m sorry, Soojung-ah... but I think I need some time to rest. Take your time and play, I’ll be waiting on the side, okay?”

And he went his way to sit on the bench just outside the rink. She watched him waved his hand at her through the glass that separated them. It was ironic, how the glass represented the difference between her world, cold and alone inside the ice rink, with his world outside. Suddenly her dream land didn’t look as beautiful as she thought it is; suddenly his world looked so much better than this, warm and inviting, as if waiting for her to break free. She really wanted to follow him outside, she felt suffocated without him here.

“ _Oppa_!” She shouted from the top of her lungs, asking for his attention, “Watch me!”

So she glided along the ice rink with a determination. She slide, jumped, bent her body and pour all of her heart into her every move, showing off her true skill to the guy who was watching her outside in awe. Most importantly, she hoped he could see how she bared her true self through this dance, when she was in her true element. No holding back.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk watched her every move in this private performance she had showed only for his eyes to see. He had never seen something so beautiful, someone so beautiful, in his life that he felt his heart beating like a drum carelessly. He was moved. He could feel her in every move she made: the happines, the sadness, the fear, the loneliness, the frustation, the confusion, the doubt, the longing, the hope... It was like she was trying to tell how she truly felt in this dance.

She jumped, spinned, jumped, jumped, and jumped again, and he knew that it was her anger, an anger that she’s been holding inside. She bent her knees to the ground, then got back up to run, faster, faster, and faster, as if she was chasing a dream that slipping out of her reach, and run even more faster, more desperate, and he knew that it’s getting to the climax, she ran faster and faster before she jumped and leapt, spinning her body around in the air.

It was the most breathtaking scene, until she lost her balance and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

His eyes widen in horror as he saw her feet failed to keep her body upright, hence she fell with her bumps hit the ice hard. Reflexively, he stood up and speeding to approach her, freaked out and worried as hell.

“ _Gwenchana_?” he asked once he had reach her, kneeling down and checking her feet to see if she can move it.

“I think it’s okay, _oppa_. It’s just a little sprain, I guess,” she answered, seething quietly when he tried to straighten her feet. When he put his hands under her knees, she stopped him just in time before he lifted her up, “ _Oppa_ , what are you doing? You barely can stand up alone with these shoes...”

“But I need to move you out of here, and go to a hospital,” he argued.

“What? No! No hospital, please. I think I can walk if you just help me...”

“Soojung-ah...”

“ _Oppa_ ,” she insisted, “It won’t do us any good if you were hurt just because you’re carrying me around. You need to drive, remember?”

Finally, Minhyuk relented because she was right. It wouldn’t be funny if both of them stranded in the middle of the rink, unable to move. So instead of lifting her up bridal style, he put his arm around her waist and help her to stand. It was a slow, torturous walk throughout the short distance to the bench. Once she sat comfortably on the bench, he took off his shoes first before he kneeled in front of her to help her. He examined her feet and found that her right ankle was slightly swelled, other than that, seemed like there’s no fractures or dislocated bones could be found.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital, Jungie-yah? I think you need to at least see a doctor just to make sure...” he asked her once again, feeling as anxious as ever.

“It’s okay, _oppa_. I’ve sprained my ankle so many times before, it just need to be compressed with warm water, and I’ll be alright. No need to worry, _oppa_ ,” she reassured him.

“But, aren’t you going to perform on GDA next week? What about your practice?”

 _Oh, crap_. She forgot about that. Soojung bit her lower lips to hid her concerns from him, “Well, I think I just need to drink some pain reliever—“ she stopped herself when Minhyuk gave her a stern look. Clearly, he didn’t like that idea, “—fine. I’ll see a doctor. But not tonight. I’ll go tomorrow with Sica _unnie_ , or my mom.”

Minhyuk started to protest when she added, “Do you want to make a scandal by going to a hospital in the middle of the night? Really, _oppa_?”

“Promise me,” he looked into her eyes, making no room for her to get away from this, “Or I’m going to drag you there myself if I found out that you didn’t, _arraseo_?”

“ _Ara_... I promise.”

And with that promise, he carried her outside the building and into the car. He found a security on their way out, and he thanked him for letting him in. The security bowed back to them, only realizing that they were actually idols.

He drove her back straight to her home. She tried to stop him from carrying her again from the car to her house, reasoning that her parents and her sister were all at home, and she didn’t want them to get caught like this. But being the most stubborn boyfriend in the world, she cowered under his death glare. She had to admit that it was so sweet of him to take care of her like this, but as much as she liked it, he was kind of scary.

She unlocked her front door while still in his arms just like they did on their first date, only with extra care, he took her upstairs very quietly. Seeing that her house was already dark, she figured that her parents might have fallen asleep on the first floor. But since it wasn’t past midnight as before, there’s a big chance that her sister wasn’t yet.

He put her down on her bed carefully, threw her shoes on the floor, then helped her to remove her jacket, her beannie, and her gloves, and even managed to pull her blanket to cover her body up to her neck, when he reminded her of their promise, “Remember, you need to go to the hospital first thing in the morning.”

She nodded obligely, “I will. Just go home, _oppa_ , before someone caught us here,” she pushed him away, but he mischievously stole a long, deep kiss from her lips.

Then her bedroom door opened unceremoniously, revealing a sleepy Jessica who was about to enter her room, “Soojung-ah, are you home—“

***

 

Guys! I had some news!

A friend of mine saw Kang Minhyuk carrying Jung Krystal out of the ice rink in the middle of the night!

 

Really? Did someone get some pictures this time?

 

He did, but well, it was dark. You can barely see their faces.

 

Oh show it to me, show it to me!

Omo! Finally! Some proof!

 

What is this? I can’t see anything!

 

It does look like Minhyuk’s back, but I can’t be sure...

 

Don’t you have clearer pictures?

 

I don’t, but at least we have some proof.

 

Proof? Pfft, you can’t say this excuse of a picture as proof.

You can mentioned any idols name, and no one would believe you.

 

Whatever. A lot of people had saw them anyway.

 

Yeah, I’m going to post it on Twitter, tho.

It’s going to be a WWTT!

 

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So I'm back, people! Sorry for the long wait, I have 2 jobs now, I barely had time to sleep, let alone to write. But don't worry, I am determined to finish this story as long as this ship keeps sailing, so please kindly bear with me. I don't know when I'll be updating, but I hope as soon as possible. Thanks for reading, commenting, and giving kudos everyone! Everytime I thought I won't get any of it anymore (did the story bored you, already?), but there's always someone who did and you never failed to make my day. So thank you so much! XOXO


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: Nope. I didn't claim anything as my own.**

*******

It’s been about 2 hours since Jessica was laying around on her bed, waiting for her baby sister to come home. It wasn’t like Soojung rarely came home late—it was something that expected ever since she officially became an idol—but Jessica could never lose that habit of worrying about her like a hen mother. Even their own mother wasn’t that worried. The first thing she did everytime she got home was checking on Soojung’s bedroom, seeing if she’s already sleeping safe and sound on her luxurious plushed bed. And everytime she found it empty, she could barely hold the urge to call or text her right away to know where she’s been.

Soojung was annoyed of course. She had told the older girl to stop nagging her all the time since she wasn’t a baby girl anymore. And Jessica had tried, God knows how hard she had tried to tone her sister complex down a little bit, but sometimes her sisterly instinct was too strong to be ignored.

And tonight was one of those nights when she felt something was coming, she tossed around her bed restlessly. The last time she felt like this was when Soojung fainted in the middle of her performance, and Jessica could never forgive herself for not noticing the signs beforehand, knowing that her sister had a severe anemia since she was a little kid.

Jessica overprotective nature was a common knowledge not only in SM town family, but also in the whole industry. Hell, probably the whole world had known it, too. That probably one of the reasons why a lot of guys didn’t have the guts to approach her little sister for a date, hence why Soojung had never had a boyfriend before, but Jessica knew that she was doing the right thing. Soojung had been a real eye catcher since she was very young; her beauty had shine through to make everyone who saw her couldn’t help but to stop and stare to admire her, that even the SM town agency had tried to recruit her at the age of 5. Jessica was jealous of her at first, she really thought that the attention that Soojung get would turn her into a snobby-arrogant-little brat, only to find her running back home with tears streaming down on her face.

Soojung was scared of people.

She would hid behind their mother’s leg everytime they went to a convinient store to do some shopping. She wouldn’t go to school without anyone walking her there and won’t come out of class until someone picked her up. The first years of her elementary school Jessica had decided to be Soojung’s guardian angel, she would gripped on Sica’s hand so tight and scooted closer on her everywhere they went, glad that they attended the same school. The hardest years of their life was when Jessica went to junior high; eventhough Jessica had patiently trained her to be braver for years, it still took a few months for Soojung to adapt and finally accept the truth that her sister couldn’t protect her all the time.

It was some kind of a miracle that Soojung could become who she is right now, and Jessica couldn’t be more proud of her. She had come a long way pushing past her fears to become an idol like now, and she’s still got a long road ahead to be a whole person with a happy life. It took her a lot of time to trust other people other than their family, it took even longer for her to open up with the SM town family, so Jessica was actually thrilled when Soojung talked about boys for the first time. Eventhough none of them had worked out for her, Jessica thought that Soojung was still so young, she had plenty of time to grow up later.  

Jessica was just about to driften off to sleep when she heard the sound of a door creaked open from across the hall. Her room was on the left wing of the hall, while Soojung’s room was on the right. Her eyes was searching for the clock, then taken a peek at what hour is it. It’s still an hour before midnight, so she got up from her bed to check her sister out.

Rubbing her eyes, she walked to Soojung’s room with a sleepy head. So imagined her surprise when she found that Soojung was lying on her bed. In her room. With a guy. _Kissing_.

It was enough for Jessica to see red.

“ _YAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_ ”

Her high-pitched scream was loud enough to waken up the whole town, making the two couple scurried away from each other. They didn’t even need to look at who it was, everyone would know Jessica’s signature voice anytime. But they were too late. Jessica was already chasing them with lightning speed and proceeded to punch the guy with her powerful fist. She hit, yelled, kicked him mercilessly, and the poor guy could only ducked away protecting his head from any fatal damage with his arms, while Soojung begging for her sister to stop.

If he thought that Soojung was violent, well he surely as hell knows now where did she get it from. It’s running down in her family.

Kick. “Who do you think you are, huh?” Punch. “ _Molesting_ my sister like that!” Punch, punch punch.

“ _Noona_! _Noona_! It’s me, Kang Minhyuk!” The poor guy tried to reason between punches, “I’m not molesting her, it was just a goodnight kiss. And I’m her boyfriend now.” Punch. Punch.

“ _Mwo_?! Boyfriend???” Jessica paused a bit when she saw that it was indeed the CNBLUE _maknae_. Out of all people... he was the last person on earth who she thought would do something like this to her sister. Gritting her teeth, she pulled his hair out forcefully it might fall off of his head, “You still didn’t have the right to do _that_! You pervert!!!!!” Punch. Kick. Punch. Kick. Kick. Punch.

“ _Unnie!_ Please, stop!!” Soojung bent on her knees on her bed, trying to peeled off Sica’s hand from violating her boyfriend. She knew very well how painful Sica’s punches were; despite her girly demeanor, she surely fights like a man.  

But instead of letting the poor guy out, she used her other hand to pinch Soojung’s ear furiously, “And you! Who taught you to bring boys to your room, _huh_?? In the middle of the night?! Kissing like _that_??!!” She stomped her feet on Minhyuk’s, then kick him on his knees, not even the slightest struggled that she was manhandling two of her _dongsaeng_ s in her hands.

“ _Noona_ ,” he reached his hands out to let Sica’s hand off of Soojung, “Don’t hurt her, please. You can do anything you want with me, but please, let her go... It was my fault.”

“Of course it was all your fault!!” And just like that, he was once again became her punching bag.

“ _Unnie_ , please stop. That’s enough. You’re going to wake _eomma_ and _appa_ up, please _unnie_...” Soojung begged, throwing her most miserable puppy eyes to get her sister’s mercy.

“I don’t care! Let them know! Let them know what a bad girl you’ve become! I’m pretty sure I taught you better than this!”

“ _Unnie_ ~~~~~”

Looking at how Soojung was brimming with tears, Jessica finally relented a bit and threw Minhyuk down on the floor, leaving him bruised and battered. He was lucky that his pretty face was untouched, he would have a hard time explaining the bruises to his _hyung_ s and management if he had. Just as Soojung was about to soothe him, loud thumps of footsteps coming out from downstairs to her room, and Soojung hurried him away to hid under the bed. Jessica glared at them, but she didn’t say anything when their parents emerged in from the door.

“What’s that noise was about, Soojung-ah?” Their mom asked and looked around, followed by their father from behind. They looked worried, afraid that it might be a robbery or something else.

“It’s okay, _eomma_ ,” Soojung answered when her mom sat on her bed and checked on her daughters out, “We’re just playing pranks with each other,” she added sheepishly.

Jessica stand still on her feet, glaring at her sister at how easy she was lying to their parents.

On the other hand, their father walked to the window, peeking through the curtains just to make sure, “Then, do you know whose car is that, Soojung-ah? Why is it parked in front of our house this late at night?”

Sica watched carefully on Soojung’s expressions as she escaped from this. At first, she looked genuinely surprised and panicked, but she composed herself just a few seconds later. _Wah, daebak_. She didn’t know that her sister was actually a pretty good liar.

“Ah. It must be Amber and our manager. They send me home after our practice. I bet they’ll be going back to the dorm later.”

“Oh, is that so?” Their father still looked a bit suspicious, knowing him who was a professional lawyer for years, he had had his experiences on differentiating between the lies. Jessica could never tell since their father used to sport that expressionless face all the time, but somehow, he closed the curtains and not asking more questions.

Their mom then smoothed Soojung’s hair lovingly, “ _Yah_ , both of you had grown up already, please do act like one. Your father needed to work early in the morning, so please be quiet, okay? Go to sleep, no more playing around, _arraseo_?”

“ _Ne, eomma_. _Arrashimnida. Mianhae_?” Soojung attempted a smile to their mom, which was replied with a kiss on her forehead. She then turned to her oldest daughter, giving her the same treatment she did earlier to Soojung.

“You too, Sooyeon-ah...”

“ _Ne_. I’ll be sleeping here with Soojung, _eomma_ ,” Jessica said to her mother with a weak smile.

“Okay then, we’ll be back to sleep. Goodnight, my angels...”

“Goodnight...” The sisters said in unison as their parents left the room.

Soojung waited until she heard the faint sound of their parents bedroom downstairs closed, before she gave her boyfriend a cue to get out of his hiding place. She helped him to brush off the dust off of his head and clothes, asking if he was okay, when Jessica faked a cough to remind the young couple that she was still in the room.

“You need to go home,” folding her arms in front of her chest, Jessica said icily to Minhyuk. The young man gulped nervously and nodded his head out of respect, knowing that she was still very angry with them.

“I’m sorry, _noona_ , you have to find out like this,” he bravely said, earning a death glare from Jessica, “But please don’t took out your anger to Soojung, just put all the blame to me, _noona_... I really meant it...”

“ _Yah_! Who are you telling me what to do? I’ll do whatever I pleased to my sister, and it’s none of your business. Now go! Before I changed my mind.”

“But _noona_ —“

“ _Aisshh_ this guy _jinjja_ —“ Jessica then pulled his ear out of the room and down to the front door, whereas Minhyuk barely shut his mouth from the pain, he didn’t want to wake their parents twice. Once she successfully shooed him out, she slammed the door right in front of his face. After making sure that the door had been locked, she stomped her feet back to Soojung’s room.

Soojung was just done putting on her sleeping wear when Jessica stormed in, “Seriously, Jung Soojung?! Did you really had to lie to me about this? Am I your sister or not, huh?!!”

Guiltily, the young girl kept her head down while biting her lips, “I’m sorry, _unnie_... I didn’t mean to lie to you, it’s just that we’re waiting for the right time to tell you...”

“Don’t try to lie to me again, Soojung-ah! I’ve seen everything and I’ve seen what a great liar you are with my own eyes. How long have you been in a relationship with him? And how _far_ have you gone with him?”

“We’ve done nothing but kissing, I swear!” Soojung made a ‘V’ sign with her fingers to tell her sister that she was telling the truth, “Besides, we’ve only been dating for... 2 months, I guess...”

“2 months?!” Jessica yelped in disbelief, “You’ve been hiding this from me for 2 months? Yahh!” Jessica figured that if it’s only January, then they’ve been dating since December of last year. She could be more understanding if it’s only for 2 weeks, but 2 months? That’s a pretty long time to be lied to, and for her as a sister who didn’t notice the signs at all despite that they were living under the same roof... it hurted Jessica’s heart a lot.

“Wait a minute, so on Christmast’ eve, it was actually Kang Minhyuk driving Yonghwa’s car in front of our house?”

Soojung nodded her head slowly to answer her, “It was our very first date, to be honest...” and then she elaborated, “...and today was only our second date...”

“Gosh!!!” Jessica threw her hands up to the air, pacing to face her little sister who was sitting on the bed to look at her in the eye, “How many times did you lie to me these past months, Jung Soojung?”

“Well...” honestly, Soojung had lost count on how many times since she always denied Jessica’s questions regarding her boyfriend, “But I’ve never lied to you about my feelings for him...”

Jessica squinted her eyes at her, “I don’t like the way you turn into a liar, Soojung-ah.”

“I’m not!” Soojung squeaked at her accusation. She reached out for her hands and gripped them tight, “In fact, I can’t wait to tell you everything about him! it’s been a torture to keep this a secret from you. I swear, I'll never do that ever again. Please  _unnie_ , don't be mad, please~~~”

Soojung pulled out her best _aegyo_ to melt Jessica’s heart, but she knew that her big sister wasn’t that kind of person who forgives easily. She probably softened a bit for now, but she would watch her every move like a hawk from now on. It would be hard to gain her trust back, let alone her blessing, but she knew that Jessica was just looking out for her.

So that night, the siblings spent the night talking about her relationship with the cute drummer, and how happy she was these past days, until both of them fallen asleep in each other’s arms.

***

**Minhyuk _oppa_**

Jungie-yah, did you get to the hospital today?

 

Soojung smiled at the text. Ignoring Jessica grumble, she replied her boyfriend.

 

**Soojungie**

_Nde_ , _oppa_... We were on our way home from the hospital. The doctor said that my ankle is fine, I just need a few days rest until the swell subsided and I can practice again ^^

 

**Minhyuk _oppa_**

Well, that’s a relieve. But don’t force yourself, okay?

Btw, how’s _noona_? Is she still angry at us?

 

**Soojungie**

Sort of. But don’t worry, _oppa_ , I’ll take care of her.

 

“Yah!!” Jessica shouted at her, “You’re still texting him after what he had done to you? Geez... this kid, seriously...”

“ _Unnie_ , I’ve told you it’s not his fault... I fell on my own.”

“But still, he’s the one who took you to an ice rink!” She yelled some more and added in a whisper, “And I’m the one who had to take you to the hospital...”

Soojung glanced at her sister and pouted, “ _Unnie_ , he rented an ice rink for _me_. What kind of a boyfriend who did that these days?” She blinked her eyes under her eyelashes to give extra effect. She was pulling everything she had to dissipate Jessica’s anger state.

But her big sister won’t admit it. She just clicked her tounge as a response, a statement that she’s still very much angry with her and the boyfriend. After Soojung had told her basically everything on how they ended up together, and explained why she had to lie about it, she knew that Jessica could actually see Soojung’s reason behind it.

What bothered Jessica was that even if her sister said that she was going to tell her at the right time, knowing Soojung, she was skeptic that the _right time_ would ever come.

“I can’t believe there’ll comes a time where I’m not your number 1 anymore...” Jessica sighed dramatically. Her baby sister had grown up, and it only take one guy to make her lie when she’s usually told her everything about her life.

“Says who?” Soojung snapped at her sister in English, “Of course you’re still my number 1, _unnie_. Minhyuk _oppa_ didn’t even make it to the top 3,” which was true, no matter how much she likes him, Kang Minhyuk was stuck on number 4 after her parents, he only managed to replace her manager on her speed dial list.

Jessica was going to retaliate her again, when Soojung’s phone ringing, “ _Yah,_ seriously! Did he had to contact you all the time? He’d just texted you all day!” She thrusted her hand forward to take the phone away, but failed. “Give it to me! Let me talk to him! This kid really need some lesson...”

But Soojung didn’t let her, “It’s not him, _unnie_... It’s my manager. Geez, stop thinking bad about my boyfriend, he really is a good guy...” She then turned to answer her call, “ _Yobuseyo_?”

_“Krystal-sshi, where are you?”_

“I’m on my way home with Sica _unnie_. _Wae_?”

_“Please come to SM office, right now. CEO Kim wants to talk to you. Hurry up, okay?”_

“Wha—“

But her manager had turned off the phone before she could ask what happened. She tried to call her back, but it went straight to voicemail. Soojung glanced at her sister. She had a bad feeling about this.

“ _Wae_?”

“CEO Kim wants to talk to me.”

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yep, it's me, people! I'm not dead, and I'm not abandoning this story. So sorry for the long wait, and the short chapter, I've seen a lot of people had unsubscribed this so I'm really thankfull for anyone who was waiting patiently for me to update and still had the time to read and leave a comment (finger crossed). I've been so freakishly busy these past months that I finally decided to choose and left one of my job because I can't take the work load. Hopefully that means that I can update regularly again and finish this story, so let me hear if anyone still interested with this. Love y'al!
> 
> PS: I've made some slight changes since actually current SM's CEO is Kim Young Min, while Lee Soo Man had resigned since 2010 eventhough he's still the main stake holder of SM. Sorry for the mistakes >.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: Not own much of anything.**  

***

“Care to explain what the _hell_ is this?”

Soojung could tell that by the way CEO Kim seethed the question out to her, the man who runs the biggest agency in the entire South Korea was currently really mad at her. Everyone in the company were scared of him even when he was on his best mood, so having to be on the receiving end of his anger state was so terrifying she cowered to sink in to the plushed sofa she was sitting on, her head hung low wishing that the ground would swallowed her down instead of being here. She still didn’t know what she had done wrong, when her manager thrust an iPad to her and showed her what was written there.

[ ''[ **Confirmed** ] Kang **Minhyuk** and **Krystal** Jung are officially **dating** for almost 2 months." ](https://twitter.com/search?q=confirmed%20minhyuk%20%26%20krystal%20dating&src=typd)

“It’s been going on for a while and my phone hadn’t stop ringing ever since,” CEO Kim said with an icy tone that could make Jessica’s ‘ice princess’ attitude felt like a summer breeze, “Now tell me the truth, Krystal, is it true? And don’t even think to lie to me, because if I found out later that it was true, I swear to God—“ he massaged his forehead while breathing in a very deep, frustrated sigh. He stared coldly at the questioned girl, who could only blanched at the screen, while her sister, Jessica, who sat right beside her, patted her sister’s back and sneaking a glance or two at him.

And just like that, he knew. _Great_.

“Why none of you could ever learn from other’s mistake?!!!” And the almighty CEO Kim finally lost it. His voice boomed throughout his entire office it startled the three other occupants in the room. “After Yoona, Sooyoung, Sulli, and now you? Really??!! Who’s next, huh? Is it you, Jessica?!”

CEO Kim then turned to the manager, “And you! I thought I told you to keep an eye on each of your members! And you failed every single time! What did you do all this time, huh??”

“ _Jwesong hamnida, sajang-nim_...” the manager bent his body forward in a deep bow, his voice quivered while he kept his head down. CEO Kim had a reputation as a harsh person even before he took the position from Lee Soo Man, but he held so much power in the company that no one dared to came across him.  

“Sorry?!” CEO Kim snarled, “Your sorry had no use to me! Do you know that there are some pictures of the two of them scattered around the web by now? I had to use all my publicists, resources, and PI (private investigators) to get them all down!” He turned again to the sisters as his original victims, “You’re lucky they didn’t caught your faces on camera so no one actually believed it. For God’s sake!” He slammed his hands on the wooden table in front of him until it shook while standing into his own two feet, making the girls felt even smaller over his towering figure, the veins on his face hardened looking like they’re going to popped out soon, a sign of how angry he was right now. Soojung couldn’t even lift her head to look at him in the eye, let alone to say something to defend herself; she was too scared shitless of him.

She knew that this could be the end of her carreer, her relationships and basically, her life. Her fans would leave her. Minhyuk’s fans would be her haters. At least, that was what happen to her bestfriend, Sulli. And the SM town family... _Gosh! What would they say if they’ve heard about it?_

After a few minutes yelling at the young girl to no avail, CEO Kim finally deduced that he needed to take matters into his own hand. Out of all the scandals that he had faced before, Krystal was too young to make a decision for her own good. The SNSD girls were old enough to know the implications of their acts, so when they decided to go public about their dating news, he trusted them enough that they could handle the situation so it wouldn’t damage their reputation both as a group and personally. He tried to do the same when Sulli’s scandal breakout very unexpectedly—but he had his lesson now that age does matter when it comes to this. He couldn’t let that happen to Krystal; or else, that group would be ruined for life.

So he took a loud, deep, heavy sigh before he approached her. The girls shared some questioning glances at each other and finally looked up at him when they saw that his hand were thrusting up in front of her face, asking for something.

With an authoritative tone, CEO Kim said, “Give me your phone. I’m going to put your phone on hold and delete any possible evidences of your dating scandal, and you’re not allowed to contact him in anyways at least until this rumour fade out.”

Soojung’s jaw dropped in shock. Her lips was trying to say something to object his order, but her voice wouldn’t come out at all.

“ _Sajang-nim_...” It’s Jessica who came to her rescue after all, “I don’t think—“

“—don’t try to defend her, Jessica,” he turned to tounge-lashed the older girl, “You’re in no position to talk back to me. Besides, I knew that you’ve been dating that young CEO for a while. Don’t you ever think that I have eyes and ears everywhere, huh?!” After he was sure that Jessica won’t say anything else again, he shifted back his target on Krystal, “I’m going to talk to CEO Han about this so he would talk to your so-called-boyfriend. He might try to call you, though, so I think it would be best if I took your phone out, just in case. Now, give it to me,” he said in curt tone.

Soojung looking for help at her sister and her manager panicky, she couldn’t give away her phone just like that. All of her precious memories with him were there, and she didn’t keep any copies of it anywhere else. Minhyuk _oppa_ probably had some in his phone, but still... It’s understandable if she couldn’t meet him for a while, he was busy anyway, but taking her phone could only meant that she couldn’t even received a text from him! It was ridiculous, not to mention, totally unfair. None of her _unnies_ had ever get this kind of punishment even when they were proven to be dating, so _why_ , _why_ suddenly her??

“ _Sajang-nim, please_...” she finally found her voice back and plead, “I promised I won’t pick up his call, or even texting with him, but please... don’t take my phone out. I still need the phone to call my family, my members, and manager _oppa_ , besides...” she paused, _if I’m not going to see him for a long time, I’d need those pictures to cheer me up_...

“Then what would you do if another scandal break out, huh? You do know that his band is very popular, right? Their fans might be not as crazy as BigBang’s or EXO’s, but still, why do you think Seohyun wouldn’t take any chance with Yonghwa even when a lot of people had supported them? Why do you think Yoona chose Lee Seung Gi instead of Lee Jonghyun? Don’t you understand, Krystal?”

To be honest, she knew it all too well. No matter how many people would love them to be together, there would always be others who would hate against them. She was there when Seohyun _unnie_ cried her eyes out at ‘I Got A Boy’ promotions last year when CNBLUE were also promoting their new album at the same time. Seeing how Yonghwa _oppa_ still trying to get in touch with her despite her being all cold to him, had make Seohyun _unnie_ regretting her own decision to refuse him all those years ago. She really felt guilty because she knew she had hurt him—and hurting herself in the process—so there was an unavoidable, palpable, awkward vibe everytime they’d met. Soojung was also there when Yoona _unnie_ caught in between Lee Seung Gi _oppa_ and Lee Jonghyun _oppa_ , before she finally decided to settle with Lee Seung Gi because he was a safer option, not to mention that the older man had practically confessed his feelings on national television every chance he got. Minhyuk _oppa_ said that Jonghyun _oppa_ had been handling it well when the news spread out, saying that he had known it all along, but still, no one would brought her up in front of him.

“I promise, I won’t contact him in anyway as you said, _sajang-nim_... at least until this rumour stopped...”

CEO Kim stared hard at her to see the sincerity in her eyes. He then looked at her manager and Jessica as he once again scolded them, “And both of you have to keep an eye on her! Don’t even think on helping her out, if I ever found out that she contacted him even once, I’ll take both of your phone _forever,_ ” he pointed at Jessica then turned to f(x)’s manager, “and I’ll fire you as a manager. Am I clear?!”

“ _Arashimnida, sajang-nim_...” the three bowed obediently. They didn’t dare to speak anymore since it was rare to have some mercy from the CEO when he was this angry. The three of them scurried out of his office once he sushed them out, feeling absolutely relieved that they could came out pretty much alive from that.

But the real torture immediately began for Jung Soojung once she came out of the CEO’s office. Rumours had been proven to be spread like wildfire when she met with the SM’s staffs who was asking her about it. Her f(x) members had been waiting worriedly downstairs and started to bombarded her with questions once she emerged from the lift.

“Soojung-ah... _gwenchana_? Is the rumour true?” Victoria _eomma_ asked her, while on the other hand, Sulli wrapped her arms around Soojung, comforting her without even asking anything. Soojung didn’t answer them, she was too overwhelmed with how the day turned out. She was just having a really great time with her boyfriend the day before, and now she couldn’t even call him. Her eyes looked absolutely empty as she walked passed her members, unintentionally ignoring them.

She could distinctly heard her manager said that he would explain everything to them later. Sica _unnie_ was busy talking to her phone—looked like even the SNSD members had known. By the end of the day, she was sure that every single person in the SM entertainment had all heard about the rumours.

And the person who had made her life impossibly miserable wasn’t from the SM town family; it was Kang Minhyuk himself. He’d been calling her endlessly despite the obvious that she won’t answer any of it. She didn’t reject it though; she’s just sitting lifelessly on her bed, staring blankly at his name on her phone screen. She found some comfort that he cared about her that much, but it’s also killing her inside that she couldn’t do anything about it. She couldn’t even give him any explanation about why she had to do this.

She could only hope that he would forgive her after this.

Once the phone stop ringing, she waited for a while then check for the voicemail straight away. She’s been doing this all day, locking herself in her room waiting and ignoring his call, thus torturing herself to hear his soothing voice through voicemail. That didn’t count as violating her CEO’s ultimatum, right?

 _“Jungie-yah... please talk to me... just this once. I need to know that you’re alright and I want to hear it from you, oh?_ Neomu neomu bogoshippeo _, please answer my next call, okay?”_

_“Jungie-yah, how long are you going to be like this?”_

_“I’ve heard everything from CEO Han, no need to worry, Jungie-yah. Just answer me this one time, and I won’t bother you again.”_

And the circle went on and on and on... until she couldn’t take it anymore.

“ _Mianhe, oppa_...”

The tears that had been gathered at the edge of her eyelids, had finally streamed down on her face. She had tried to held it in all day, putting up a strong face in front of everyone, but she knew she wasn’t that strong in the first place. The silent tears slowly turned into a sob, and the sobs then turned into a cry, and she cried her heart out while clutching the phone to her ear.

_“Jungie-yah, are you sleeping yet?”_

_“I bet you must be tired right now. I’ll call you again tomorrow, okay? Maybe you’ll feel better after a good night sleep. Dream of me, oh? Goodnight...”_

“ _Mianhe, oppa..._ ” she cried to herself, “I’m really really sorry...”

***

The next morning, Soojung woke up to the sound of her sister calling her softly. Jessica stroke her baby sister’s hair with extra care, gently revealing the swollen eyes that she was trying to hide.

Whimpering, Soojung opened her heavy eyes, “ _Unnie_... did you come home last night?”

“ _Oh_. Don’t you realize I was sleeping next to you?”

“No...” Soojung replied weakly. She must be so tired she didn’t hear a thing. Sica _unnie_ had started practicing for SNSD’s come back this year, so she expected her sister to be extremely busy for the next few months. She closed her eyes once again since she’s still very much sleepy, while Jessica continued to stroke her hair in silence.

Once she was sure that Soojung had fallen asleep again, Jessica started to talk to herself, “ _Mianhe, Soojung-ah_... I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you last night...” She heaved a sigh when she remembered how she couldn’t do anything to protect her sister yesterday; not from the media, not from the harsh words of their CEO, not even from herself. She felt even more guilty on how she reacted the night before when she was practically fuming at her sister when she found out that she was dating a boy and how she couldn’t be there to comfort her last night...; if she knew that the next day everything would turned down hill like this, she probably would let her sister to absorb as much happiness as she could get from said boyfriend. Maybe then Soojung wouldn’t be this sad...

She remembered how happy Soojung was as she talked animatedly about how they ended up together; even after so much scolding and yelling from her own sister. Just then she realized that something had change in her sister, some positive aura radiating from the way she acted, her face practically glowed everytime his name was mentioned. She should’ve known, Jessica thought, she should’ve notice this little changes before. Now that she had seen the contrast difference before and after the rumour, she wished there’s something that she could do to bring that Soojung back.

Jessica placed a quick peck on Soojung’s forehead since she needed to get ready for another day of practice for her new album when the door bell’s ringed. She immediately went downstairs to see who it was and surprised herself when she saw Kang Minhyuk stood in front of the door.

Looked like someone didn’t get much sleep either last night.

“ _Noona_...” the young boy attempted a smile as soon as he saw her. Holding a bouquet of flowers, he didn’t waste time to ask her,  “Can I—“

“—she’s sleeping, Minhyuk-ah...”

“Oh.”

And the smile vanished in an instant and Jessica couldn’t help but pity him. But she couldn’t do anything to help the poor boy, if CEO Kim’s threat was true, there must be some of his PI’s who had been following him—or rather, watching over her house day and night—just to see if the sisters kept their promises.

“You can’t come here, Minhyuk-ah...” Jessica said softly, she couldn’t be angry at him since she knew he must be hurting as much as her sister did right now. She couldn’t possibly beaten the already bruised and battered puppy like him, she was too much of a softie to do something like that.

Minhyuk could only lower his eyes down and mumbled something like, “I know.”

There was a long silence after that before Jessica finally pointed to the flowers he had brought, “Is that for Soojung? I could give it to her for you if you want to.”

“ _Nde_?” Minhyuk looked up to see the sincerity in Jessica’s eyes, and was convinced when the older girl smiled at him, “Oh. Please,” he bowed and let her took the flowers from his grasp.

“Oh, _yeoppo da_... Soojung must be feeling better when she saw this. Did you arrange it yourself?”

“ _Oh_ ,” he replied awkwardly, “but _noona_... could you please tell me that she’s alright? I mean, she’s not skipping meal or losing sleep, right? How’s her ankle?”

Jessica smiled wider at how concerned he seemed to be; looked like Soojung got herself a pretty good boyfriend. _Ahh... how lucky_.

“I’m her sister, Minhyuk-ah... I’ll make sure she won’t do anything like that. And the doctor said her ankle is fine. It’s a good excuse tho, so she could get herself some rest between all this mess. Don’t worry, okay? She would be alright if you just be more patient and don’t stirred up another rumour.”

Minhyuk bit his lips in a flat line and bowed his head again in embarrassment; CEO Han and his _hyungs_ had told him the exact same thing, but he wouldn’t listen. Call him selfish, call him reckless, he knew he should’ve listen to them. Hearing the words from Jessica made him remember his own sister at home; Sica _noona_ must be pretty worried about his Soojung, too. Probably more.

“I’m really sorry, _noona_ , for troubling you,” Minhyuk bent his head down again in a deep bow, “I’ve bought something for you too,” he took out a box from a paper bag that he was holding, while Jessica eyeing the box curiously, “It’s nothing much, but maybe you could share it with Soojung to light up her mood...”

“ _Omo_! Is it chocolate?” Jessica eyes widen as soon as she saw the brand of the box, “Oh, it’s my favourite, too! _Aigoo_... Minhyuk-ah how did you know—wait, don’t answer that—it’s Donghae _oppa_ , isn’t it?” She eyed the boy suspiciously.

Minhyuk couldn’t help but grinned sheepishly, “It’s that obvious, isn’t it?”

“Tsk, eyyy... Are you trying to bribe me with this?”

The grin on his face widen, “Is it working?”

“No,” Jessica cut him off curtly, “But I’m still going to take it. Tell Donghae _oppa_ that it took a whole lot more than a box of chocolate to bribe me. _Aiishh_... he’s still didn’t get it...”

Minhyuk smiled the first genuine smile he had had since yesterday, finding out another similarity between Soojung and Jessica who whined a lot even if it’s obvious that they liked it. Eventhough he missed Soojung a lot, well this probably should do.

Before he took his leave, Minhyuk decided to say something to Jessica to show her how thankful he was, “ _Noona_.”

“Hm?”

“Thank you.”

Jessica smiled, “No problem.”

“I have an older sister just like you, you know? She nagged me a lot and could be a bit too overprotective sometimes—just like you—but that’s how I know how thankful Soojung must be to have a sister like you. And that’s why I know she would be alright because you’ll take care of her just like how my sister would take care of me. So, I couldn’t thank you enough for this—“

“—don’t make me cry, Minhyuk-ah... Just go and take care of yourself, okay?”

Minhyuk didn’t say anything more and bowed to her once again before he get in to the car and drove away. Leaving Jessica’s eyes glistening with tears, feeling even more guilty for him and her sister.

***

Just as the doctor said, the swelling on her ankle had subsided after a few days. Soojung spent those few days by locking herself in her room, fiddling with her phone, looking at his pictures, waiting for his call, and crying herself to sleep. She missed him so much it hurts; now that she couldn’t make any kind of contact with him, she realized what a lonely life her life had been before she met him. She wasn’t the type of girl who would mingle around; the only person she would talk to all day probably her sister, and she was okay with that. But after she met him, she knew now how nice it was to constantly have someone to talk to, knowing that someone would miss you if he didn’t hear a word from you, to have something that you’re looking forward to after a long day of work.

Minhyuk _oppa_ sure was so busy right now since he would make a come back with his band by the next month, but Soojung had to give him some credit for his persistence to try to reach out for her. He’d still managed to call her every morning, every night and everytime he had some break. Jessica told her that he even made an attempt to came by to her house, bearing gifts and flowers to bribe his way in, but Soojung was glad that Jessica didn’t budge. She didn’t want to be a burden for her sister and her manager just because of her selfishness. She was feeling guilty enough for dragging them into this in the first place.

Today was the first day she joined her members for the GDA rehearsals in SM town studio. They were practicing along with the other groups: Shineee, EXO, even SNSD and Super Junior were there to teach the _maknaes_ their dance moves for the special performance. Everyone was trying to look nonchalant as she set her feet to the practice room for the first time after the rumours break out, but she knew that they were curious about her current situation. She tried to ignore all the glances they threw at her the entire time. However, the atmosphere was too awkward to be left unnoticed. During break, Soojung decided to sit on the corner of the mirrored room all alone; her mind and heart was too tired to give a damn anymore.

A while later, she could feel someone plopped down beside her. She took a quick glance to see who was it; it’s Heechul _oppa_. His phone attached to his ear, talking comfortably with whoever it was on the other line. He smiled knowingly at her, Soojung crinkled her forehead at that, when she realized who was it he was talking to.

“... _Oh_. She’s here with me right now. Do you want to talk to her?”

Heechul thrust his phone in front of her face so she could see the name on the screen. Her eyes was glistening in an instant as she heard that familiar voice throughout the phone, loud enough for both of them to hear.

“ _Jungie-yah_? _Are you there? It’s me._ ”

Of course she knew whose voice is it. She would’ve recognize that voice anywhere. She could’ve just take the phone and say ‘hi’ to him, it was so easy... yet, she turned her head away from the phone.  

 _Be strong, Jung Soojung_. _Be strong_ , she chanted the words in her head like a spell, willing the tears not to fall down her face.

“Minhyuk-ah... she didn’t want to talk to you...” she heard Heechul _oppa_ told him, “Well... she didn’t look sick at least, yeah... I think her leg was fine, her dance earlier was flawless as usual... _Ne_... I’ll keep an eye on her, don’t worry... bye...”

“Geez...” Heechul talked to himself once he ended the call, “He’s such a nagging boyfriend. You must find it really annoying, right Soojung-ah?”

A small smile tore from her pouty face, Heechul relieved that the girl didn’t lost herself completely in sadness.

“I know, right? He’s always been like that even before we’re dating...”

“Eyy... look at you. You really like him, don’t you?” Heechul teased, earning a slight blush on her cheeks, “He’s really worried about you, you know? He’s been calling me everyday to check up on you, like _aiiishh_... _jinjja_... if he’s not Kang Minhyuk, I’d probably had had him on my black list. How dare he?!”

Soojung chuckled at his attempt to joke around; he might be grumbling like an old grandpa right now, but she knew he was just trying to cheer her up. And it was working. Knowing that Minhyuk _oppa_ still checking up on her even through someone else, had warmed her heart a little bit.

“Then... how about him, _oppa_?” Soojung asked her _sunbae_ , “Is he doing alright?”

“Well, CEO Han was pretty upset at him for sure, but he’s not as strict as our CEO anyway, so...” he rolled his eyes at the mention of CEO Kim, it was a common knowledge that most people wasn’t very fond of their current boss at all, “Don’t worry about him, though, he’s a man. He should handle this situation really well. I just couldn’t believe that both of you could hide it from everyone for months, you even lied to my face! Remember New Year’s eve? Wah... I should’ve known... I should’ve known...”

Soojung then told him the whole story. Heechul _oppa_ might be one of the best (or worst?) gossiper ever, but he’s also a good listener and advicer. He had seen a lot of his fellow idols with dating scandals and how they handle it. Besides, Minhyuk _oppa_ had become close with him; so it was probably better if she came out clean with him.  

In the middle of their conversation, somehow Soojung had a glimpse of Donghae _oppa_ walking towards her. What had had caught her attention was that Suho _oppa_ and Kai were trailing right behind him. Soojung stared in horror as the trio came closer, she really thought that she couldn’t handle them right now.

Donghae _oppa_ confidently joined her to sit on the floor with Suho _oppa_ following right next to him. Kai preferred to stand still with his back leaning on the mirrored wall, acting like he-didn’t-want-to-be-there-but-since-the- _hyungs_ -asked-him-to so he didn’t have a choice.

“So,” Donghae _oppa_ nudged her with his elbow, “You and Minhyuk, huh? Can’t say that I didn’t see it coming, though.”

Well, Donghae _oppa_ was nothing like Heechul _oppa_ , that’s for sure. He was not a conversationalist, but he’s a kind person. They’ve become quite close since her sister had been dating him a few years ago, and eventhough they’ve broke up, Donghae _oppa_ still acted like she was his sister-in-law. Soojung was just not very sure if his intention was solely because he was close with the _maknae_ couple, or because the boys behind him had asked him to.

She decided to ignore them then.

“Minhyuk _oppa_ must’ve told you, right?” Soojung asked him, which was replied by a slight nod from Donghae, “Thanks for the chocolate, tho. I had some fun teasing Sica _unnie_ that day, she was grumbling all day, you know?”

Donghae chuckled as he imagined how Jessica must reacted for that. Their relationship didn’t last for long, but he had known her for half of his life. And both of them was mature enough to understand that she needed something more than him to make it work. His eyes wandered around the studio and caught sight of her, practicing her dance, when their eyes met. He gave a small smile to her, but Jessica darted her eyes away, indicating she’s still pretty much irritated at him. Donghae chuckled at her antics.

Soojung saw this little interaction then nudged him back, “ _Oppa_ , as much as I like you as my brother-in-law, but you need to move on. She already did, you know?”

Donghae turned his eyes to look at Soojung and ruffled her hair, “ _Ara_... she’s with that CEO, right?”

“ _Yah, oppa_! Don’t mess with my hair!” Soojung glared at him, pushing his hand away from her head.

“I was just wondering how does it feel like. Now I know why _uri_ Minhyukkie loves to do it very much,” he then sneaked his hand to repeat the action playfully.  

“ _Yaaahhh..._ ” Soojung backed away from him, whining some more, and making the boys around her laugh.

Once he was content playing with her hair, Donghae said again, “You should’ve told me, anyway.”

“He’s right,” Heechul chimed in, “You should’ve at least told your sister. Or me. We might’ve help.”

“ _Shireo_ ,” Soojung pouted stubbornly, “It’s more likely you’d tease me endlessly rather then helping.”

Kai sneered, unexpectedly drawing everyone’s attention from Soojung to him, “But you did a crappy job on hiding it.”

“What do you mean, Kim Jongin?” Suho asked him, curious.

Kai kept his eyes fixed on Soojung’s, “I saw them kissing in a parking lot.”

“Whaatt?!”

Soojung narrowed her eyes at him, while everyone’s still pretty much shocked with what Kai just said.

“I mean, if they keep on doing that in a regular basis, I bet that someone would caught them much sooner rather than later. So I’m not that surprised when it did.”

Soojung pulled herself up into a standing position, her eyes shooting deathly glares to the boy who had broken her heart once, “What are you trying to say, Kim Jongin? Are you saying that you’re the one who tipped them about the rumour?”

Insulted, Kai pushed his body away from the mirrored wall, “And _why_ would I do that?”

The girl just scoffed, “I don’t know, maybe you hate me so much you don’t like it to see me happy?”

“Tch...” Kai scoffed back, “Seriously, Jung Soojung? Is this really you? Just so you know, I’d never hate you. If anything, you must be the one who hate me so much so you accused me of something so low like that.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“What did I do?! I didn’t do anything! For God’s sake, I didn’t say anything to anyone until now!”

His voice boomed through out the whole studio that everyone stop and stared at the two. Suho stood up to calm him down, while Heechul and Donghae pushed Soojung to the back to protect her. Jessica and the other f(x) members came into view to see what happened, their eyes filled with worry.

What he said next had stunned her even more, “I would never do anything to hurt you, Soojung-ah... I care about you too much to do something like that.”

And with that, he left the room in a deafening silence.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Another drama, I guess. So sorry for the long wait tho, at least it wasn't 2 months wait like the last one ;p
> 
> Btw the rumour on twitter was really happened, Idk if any of you have heard of it before. You can searched it on twitter and see the rest of it. But to be honest, I'm falling behind with my original timeline, I wish I could update faster than this, but looked like I'm still pretty much exhausted with 1 job, I really don't know how did I survive with 2 jobs >.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I did not claim anything as my own.**

***

The 28th Golden Disk Awards that was held a week later must be the worst nightmare in her life.

During rehearsals, where every idols familiarized themselves with the stages, the equipments, and the time-table, making some adjustments here and there, Soojung tried so hard to avoid a certain boy from a certain band. It was a relieve that they’re only shared the same stage during the intro and the end of the event, making it easier for her to hide between the sea of idols who were also attending. She remembered vividly what CEO Kim had said the day before.

“ _Just so you know Krystal, if only Sulli didn’t have filming schedules, I wouldn’t give you permisson to take part on this. Remember, even if you met him: don’t talk to him, don’t look at him, don’t even spare a glance at him. A lot of people are watching, Krystal, I warned you..._ ”

So she did exactly what she was told.

Fortunately, she didn’t bumped into him during the rehearsals, the red carpet, backstage, even in the hotel—not even once. She had a glimpse of him once or twice, and so did he, but she was an expert at fleeing and hiding herself away as quickly as possible. It went pretty well for almost the whole event, _almost_ , until she couldn’t escape anymore.

It was at the very end of the event, where they would announced the last award and everyone were called out to be present on the stage, she could see him on the far end corner of the stage and her group was called to fill the row right in front of him. _Holy crap_. The arrangement was _not_ like this during rehearsal; her group was supposed to be called for the few last.

She couldn’t run away now, it would be too obvious. And weird. She held her breath and pretend like she didn’t see him, she even turned her body towards the audience, unlike her _unnies_ who were walking straight and greet everyone in their vicinity.

 _Don’t talk to him. Don’t look at him. Don’t even spare a glance at him_ , she could hear CEO Kim’s words repeating in her head. It was driving her nuts.

She could hear Amber _unnie_ greeted him and the boy greeted her back with that warm voice of his. She bit her lip. _That should be me_. _I should be the one who greeted you and received your warm smile,_ oppa...

She could feel his stare burning a hole behind her head. She was trying to deny the shivers that ran down her body everytime he was near; acting like she didn’t notice him at all eventhough she knew from her peripheral vision that he was trying to approach her. Now he was standing right behind her, and it was getting harder and harder to pretend and control the urge to jump into his arms right here, right now.

Screw everyone elses.

Screw CEO Kim Young Min.

But then she rememberred her sister. She rememberred her manager. She rememberred his band, they would make a comeback after this and she couldn’t possibly ruined all of their hard work. She rememberred her _unnies_ , their group had struggled enough to keep their existence in the industry, another scandal would break them apart for sure. She couldn’t do that to any of them.

Amber _unnie_ was just done greeting all of the CNBLUE members when she nudged Soojung on the elbow; she had acknowledge what Soojung had been doing, but she didn’t like the awkward vibe that came between them. Amber had known the boys long before her, so Soojung complied, bowing to Jonghyun _oppa_ once, then turned her back on them in a flash, ignoring the cold stare that came from Minhyuk _oppa_ towards her.

She kept up with the act until they announced EXO name for the final award. The Shineee _oppas_ came through the crowd to congratulate their _maknaes_ , and Soojung couldn’t help but to laugh at their funny antics towards each other. _Boys_ , she thought. That’s when Minho _oppa_ suddenly greeted her, “Soojung-ah, look at you! Being so small between these people. Can you even see anything?”

Soojung shook her head as her answer, then Minho _oppa_ smiled and patted her shoulder, “Let me help you.”

She didn’t know what did he meant by that, so she was totally surprised when he was suddenly stood behind her and lifted her up. She yelped.

_Oh. My. God._

Her lips broke into a smile much due to the surprise, eventhough inside her head she was panicking over what if Minhyuk _oppa_ saw it?!!

Thank God it was only for a split second. He asked her again, “So, did you see everything?”

Smiling shyly, she answered animatedly, “I can see aaalllll the way down to every corner from top to bottom,” her right hand lifted up to describe ‘all’.

“I know, right?”

Soojung realized that all the time Minhyuk _oppa_ was right behind her. Despite the fact that she could feel his eyes digging a deeper hole behind her head, she still hoped that he didn’t see it. But Onew _oppa_ , who had seen _everything_ , confirmed her unwishful suspicion.

“Minho-yah!” Cluelessly, the guy turned his head to the direction where the voice came from. He saw Onew made a gesture to call him over, and he did. “ _Yah_!” Onew scolded him once he was close enough to hear him, “I think Minhyuk was glaring at you.”

“ _Mwo?_ ”

The clueless guy turned his head again to follow Onew’s line of sight, and there he was, Kang Minhyuk who was trying to act nonchalant towards them. But he was too late. Minho had seen the murderous glare that he had shot both to him and Soojung.

Onew nudged him to approach the obviously bitter guy.

Without further cue, Minho greeted him with that friendly smile of him. If he was feeling uneasy to know that Minhyuk probably misunderstanding his relationship with Soojung, well it didn’t show. That’s just him.

“Minhyuk-ah,” he started, Minhyuk looked a bit surprised that the big eyes guy dared to talk to him like nothing happened, “Look, I hoped you didn’t get me wrong—“

Soojung couldn’t pretend anymore and flipped her head upon hearing what Minho was about to say, but Minhyuk cut him off.

“—you know, I can see everything pretty _clear_ from here,” he said to Minho, imitating Soojung’s hand gesture earlier. His face looked like he was smiling, but Minho knew immediately that he was meant to mock him.

Minho nodded his head, more like of an okay-you’re-mad kind of nod than of an agreement but asked anyway, “You’re mad at me, aren’t you?”

“ _Ani_...” Minhyuk denied it way too fast, “Why would I be mad at you?”

Minho smiled knowingly and patted Minhyuk’s waist as a gesture of apology, then took a step away from him. He watched him as Minhyuk did the same and purposefully talked to Yonghwa on the other side, like he was avoiding him. Feeling uncomfortable, Minho then dragged his feet even further away and hugged Taemin as an excuse.

Soojung, who had heard everything, bitten her lips. She was staring at her boyfriend who was currently talking to his members, but now it did seemed like it’s him who was trying to ignore her, not the other way around.

She realized that he was mad at her.

She was contemplating on giving up the cold act already, but immediately talked herself out of it. She tried to keep her mind out of it by joining a joke with Amber _unnie_ , but his coldness hit her like never before. One of her hand tried to smoothen out the tension on her neck, _gosh_ , she couldn’t get him out of her head, that she didn’t notice Kai was standing in front of her all this time, listening to all of her conversation carefully.

Soojung had to talk to her boyfriend. She _needed_ to talk to him. Keeping the act to ignore him when he was this close—especially after _that_ incident—could make him even more angry at her. She couldn’t take that. She couldn’t take the possibility that Minhyuk _oppa_ wouldn’t talk to her ever again.

A few seconds later, she mustered up every courage that she had and decided to turn her face at him for once. Hesitantly, she whined a bit at him, “ _Oppa_...”

His half-hearted smile that formed immediately after their eyes met was like water in her deserted heart. So warm, so fresh, making her realized how much she actually missed him. She wanted to touch him. She really really wanted to be drawn in his arms and take all of his warmth for herself, and it took a lot of self-control not to just do exactly that.

He tilted his head to ask her ‘what was that’, referring to when Minho lifted her up. Soojung flipped her head to the other direction; honestly, she didn’t know how to answer that question. Then she heard him say something like ‘ _oerop...ta_ ’ (I’m lonely), and it broke her heart. _Me too, oppa... me too..._ She nodded her head and was just about to say so, but he didn’t see her—he was looking curiously at the Shineee’s members behind them. Feeling dejected, she pouted. This was not the place and the time to have a conversation, she thought. So she didn’t make any attempt to acknowledge him again after that.

She had joked around with Jonghyun _oppa_ who was imitating that silly-head-bang-dance nonstop; she even had a decent conversation with Suho _oppa_ where she congratulated him for their winning. All the while, she wished that this event would come to an end soon just so that she could have some talk with her boyfriend, as soon as possible.

But that need had to be pushed aside once again when EXO’s song played through as a background to celebrate their winning, and as a fellow group under the same agency, she couldn’t left the stage early. She stared at Minhyuk’s back until he disappeared to the backstage, wishing that she could catch up with him later.

Once the song had ended, Soojung could barely hold the urge to run and find him immediately. She rushed in to the backstage down to the waiting room, hoping that he was still in the building. How long had it been since he left the stage? He couldn’t had left to the hotel in 5 minutes, could he?

After looking around for 10 minutes to no avail, she was sure that she had lost him. She didn’t bring her handphone with her, it was on her bag in the waiting room so she tried to peek in to CNBLUE’s waiting room but found that it was empty except for the make-up artists who were just about to finish packing up their equipments. They were looking at her curiously, wondering what she was doing in a boy group’s room, or if she lost her way, when she heard Vic _eomma_ calling her out.

“Soojung-ah!” the eldest member in her group approaching her with worry all over her face, “Where have you been?! Aren’t you going to change your outfit? _Yah_ , we’re going back to the hotel in a minute. _Palli_!”

But Soojung didn’t listen to her. Instead, she was whining to Victoria with tears brimming on her eyes, “ _Eomma~~~_ he’s mad at me... I can’t find him... _eottoke_??!”

Victoria looked puzzled with Soojung’s sudden behaviour, it took her a few seconds to figure out who was it she was talking about, “Is it Minhyuk- _ssi_?” Soojung nodded her head vigorously in a panic mode, she looked pretty desperate so Victoria tried to calm her down. She rubbed her upper arms repeatedly, “He’s probably on the way to the hotel now. Change your clothes first, then we’re going to catch him later. I’ll ask our manager in what room he was in, okay?”

The younger girl shook her head even more desperately, “No no no no no... please don’t tell manager _oppa_ about this, he’s going to scold me if he knew—“

“—he needed to know, Soojung-ah,” Victoria told her with a stern voice, “If you’re going to continue your relationship with him then you need to at least let our manager know about this. You owe him that. You _owe_ us that. That’s the only way we could help you out and prevent further damage. _Arraseo_?”

Clearly, Soojung didn’t want to agree to that, she just kept on shaking her head like a spoiled child.

Victoria once again tried to talk her out, “Listen, Soojung- _ah_. What’s the point on keeping your relationship from us, anyway? Everyone had already known about it. You either come clean about it or I won’t let you met him.”

“ _Eommaaa~~~_ ” she whined a little bit more after hearing that, but Victoria wouldn’t hear any of it. As a leader, she felt that both of their _maknaes_ were being reckless that she needed to take some action before everything’s going out of control. She didn’t like it either; but it was unavoidable.

“Fine...” Soojung finally relented after seeing that Victoria didn’t budge at all. She was left with no choice since she still needed some help and support from her _unnies_ , or else, she’ll be in a deeper trouble. Victoria smiled encouragingly to hear this, then she rushed her towards their waiting room and proceeded to talk to their manager as she had promised.

Fortunately, her group and his band were staying in the same hotel, so it wasn’t that hard to found out which room he was in. She managed to tune out her manager’s grumble, who was helping her after a lot of ‘convincing’ from her _unnies_. Once they’ve arrived at the hotel, she dashed out to the elevator that leads to his room.

But even before she reached the elevator, she found him going in to the elevator along with his other members and his manager.

“ _Oppa_!”

The boys clearly had heard her since they were all looking back to see her ran a little bit faster to reach him before the door closed. Minhyuk _oppa_ sported that expressionless look on his face as he saw her, before he coldly press the close button right in front of her face, ignoring the questioning glances the others threw at him.

Soojung found herself freezed for a few moments at the closing door. The cold look on his face as the door closed flashing through her eyes repeatedly, a wake up call that it was real. He was ignoring her. He didn’t want to talk to her. Hell, he didn’t even want to see her. _Oh my God, eottoke_??!

In the heat of the moment, she pressed the elevetor button furiously and take another one in a rush. Praying that she could catch him just in time before he got into his room and closed the door for her forever. And she did. He was just about to get in after Jungshin, when she called out his name once again.

“ _Oppa_!!!”

He did stopped and looked at her this time. She didn’t care if he did it mostly out of pity, she must’ve been look pretty desperate right now since she was running from the elevator to his room, and she finally could take a long sigh of breathe when she could grab a hold of his arm.

She was still trying to catch her breath as she tried to speak out, “ _Oppa_ , we need to talk.”

He released a heavy sigh out of his mouth as he murmured something like ‘obviously’, then without a cue, Jungshin found his way out of the room, opting to share a room with their manager instead. Yonghwa and Jonghyun exchanging worried look with each other, knowing Minhyuk’s past love life, they really hoped this time it wouldn’t affect him as much. However, they believed that Minhyuk wouldn’t need any interference from anyone regarding his relationship, so the older boys got themselves into their room to give the couple some privacy.

Ever the gentleman that he is, Minhyuk let Soojung to get into the room first. The girl complied, releasing her hold on his arm thinking that it would be alright. She waited for him to close the door before she started to speak.

“ _Oppa—_ “

“—cut the crap, Soojung-ah,” he cut her off with a tired voice, “I think we both know that we probably should end our relationship for now. It’s not working.”

For the thousand times that week, she felt that her world had crumbling down to ashes.

The last remnants of hope that she was trying so hard to hold on to, gone as fast as he had said those words.

Her worst nightmare had finally come true.

***

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *duck my head*
> 
> Did anyone want to throw rotten tomatoes at me? *runaway*
> 
>  
> 
> I know, I know, I hate this chapter as much as you do. Probably more, because this chapter was so hard to write I just want to throw it out on the open so I could skip to the next chapter. Some of you had asked me to write something about the GDA moments, so this is what came through my mind and put all the blame to the CEO, muahahahaha. *I still can't believe they kicked Jessica out of SNSD. They could be Divine. They could endure the hardships for one more album, for God's sake, and put on a memorable ending instead of like this. It's a shame, really, but yeah, whatever.* Okay, I'll stop ranting now. Comments like always, puh-leasee?


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I have nothing! Nothing! Nothing... besides my perverted imagination. Consider yourself warned.**

***

“ _O-oppa_...”

He could hear her cracked voice very clearly despite how distinct the sound was. It was probably due to the tension that enveloped the whole room which made even the slightest movement could be echoed like a drumroll to their ears. Call him stupid. Call him crazy. Call him judgmental. His mind was quite a mess this past week that no matter how much he tried to portray on which way their relationship could go, it was always led into a dead-end.

It was inevitable. And the way Soojung acted towards him _today_ —and the days before—didn’t help at all.

He had to admit that he just had a week that came from hell. After his lovely date with Soojung, everything went down hill drastically. He initially hoped that the date would sustained his longing for her presence until their next date, which was probably would be months later since he had a world tour concert and a new album on his waiting list, but the scandal breakout had eaten out every bit of happiness he had that day. To put it simply, he was in a bad, bad mood the whole week.

CEO Han was the first person who had told him about the scandal, much to his surprise. The CEO was furious of course; he had reminded him of what he had said that he wouldn’t get into a scandal but he did anyway. Even if it was just for a few hours, but it was enough to rock the whole world and set the agency in a chaos. That was the power of social media. Unlike the public media that you could pay whenever you need a good spread about their artists or simply just to shut them up, you could never do such things with social media. They could write anything they want, either it’s the truth or a made up, then post it anytime regardless of how the news would effect said person’s life.

The scandal probably wouldn’t matter much if only her agency didn’t exaggerated their reaction. Yes, he did know from his _hyungs_ in SM entertainment that the CEO had personally instructed his girlfriend to cut any means of communication with him. Like, seriously?? What was the fuss about when they’d just confirmed Yoona’s relationship earlier this year? And when Sulli’s photos with her boyfriend leaked, as far as he knew, they’d still keep in contact with each other. But what irritated him the most was that how Soojung just complied with it, without any explanation for him. She’s just disappeared and shut him out like she always did. And he had to dig every bit of information from all of his _hyungs_ there.

It felt awfully like those times before they’re officially dating.

“ _Oppa_ ~” she took a few steps closer to him hesitantly, and with those sad eyes she looked up at him, “You didn’t mean it, right?”

It was hard for him, too. He let a out a loud sigh and looked up at the ceiling, wishing that he could find an answer to that. To be honest, he really didn’t want to, but deep in his heart, he knew that he was tired. He was tired to be the only one who was chasing her. Not that he wanted her to chase him, but he needed some reassurance that it was all worthed it. That she at least reciprocated his feelings. He was tired to be the only one who was trying to keep this relationship. And her cold act had made him thinking, was it all just his imagination? That he had delusioned himself to believe that she had the same feeling towards him?

“I’ve told you, Soojung-ah... it’s not working,” he finally looked at her in the eyes, “especially not if you’re going to continue to act like this. I don’t want to waste my time with someone who wouldn’t even _try_ to show her feelings for me.”

And he did meant that. He had surprised himself of how much did he actually meant it. It didn’t matter how much he really liked her, or _if_ she actually liked him too, if the other party didn’t show it and left the other in doubt, then what was the point?

A thought suddenly came to his mind about his past relationship. _So this is how it feels_. How does it hurt to try to reach out to someone you like to no avail. How many times you’ve tried to convince yourself that it was just the way he/she is, that it was just temporary, that he/she would come to you eventually, that you just had to endure it for a little bit longer. But the constant doubt would only added up until it washed away your whole faith. It’d been only a week, and he could not stand it already. He couldn’t imagine how his ex did it for years. No wonder that she said she was sick of him.   

Now that he could relate to that, there’s some kind of strange relief that he had seen it sooner rather than later. That this had happen before his feelings for her had gone way in too deep.

But still, something’s tugged in his heart... is it the right thing to do? Wasn’t it too rushed to make a decision like this?

“ _Oppa_ , what do you mean?” she tried to reach out for him, but he took a step back. The immediate hurt was visible in her eyes, and he hated the way it hurted him, too, “You know that I _do_ like you, right? And you do know that I did _this_ because they told me to. It’s not because I wanted to. You know that, _oppa_ , don’t you?”

“I know, but— didn’t you at least think about to save my feelings about it? Or to give me some peace of mind that you’re not just playing with me?”

A few creases were visible on her smooth forehead to hear that accusation, “I-I don’t understand, _oppa_. I’m not playing with you— It had never even crossed my mind! How could you?”

“Then what are you doing with Choi Minho just then? Right in front of my eyes?” he couldn’t help it anymore, the yell had fell out of his mouth uncontrollably. And he wasn’t done yet. “You even had to act all cute in front of _that_ Suho, all the while acting like I wasn’t there. Like I didn’t even exist at all! It’s okay if you’re going to act all cold towards me in front of everyone, but can’t you _at least_ do the same to all the other guys while _I was there_? For God’s sake, you’re being too obvious I don’t even know which one was act and which one was real—”

His rant was stopped as Soojung hugged him abruptly and buried her face on his chest, sobbing. He let out a low groan and stared up at the ceiling at the sudden act, a long silence had filled up the room as both of them had rendered speechless at the moment. He refused to return the hug though, even when his body screaming at how good it felt to feel her in his arms again.

“I’m sorry...” her voice was muffled by the fabric of his clothes, “I didn’t mean to hurt you... I’d never meant to hurt you, I’d just—I’d just thought that you would understand,” she peeked her eyes out to look up at him, “I’m really really sorry, _oppa_... it was difficult for me, too...”

Minhyuk used his hand to massage his head and flipped the hair out of his face, clearly frustrated, “I don’t know, Soojung-ah... I’m just, I’m just really tired to be the only one who was trying here...”

She tightened her arms around his waist and put her chin on his chest, making him looked down to see her determination, “Then tell me what to do! I don’t know what you’re expecting of me, but I’ll do anything to show you that I really really like you. Just don’t tell me it’s over, _oppa_ , pleaseee...” she added a pout to give him an extra effect, not cutely, but desperately, before she placed her cheek on his chest near his neck, where she took a deep breath of his heavenly smell, and pulled herself in even more closer if it’s possible, “I miss you so much I don’t think I could let you go...”

“Are you sure?” Minhyuk asked which was replied as Soojung nodded her head vigorously at him, “Then tell me, is there anyone else that you like othar than me?”

He was testing her, for honesty. It was kind of childish, he knew, but if she couldn’t come clean about this, he really doubted that she would be honest with everything else’s.

“No,” Minhyuk quirked a brow to show her that he was pretty much skeptical about it, so she elaborated, “I mean, I’d like to think most of them as my older brothers, nothing more...”

“Not even Kai?”

There was a split second of shocked expression appeared in her eyes, but it was disappeared as soon as it came down upon her, “I see.. Did Heechul _oppa_ told you about him?”

“Nope,” Minhyuk replied curtly, “It was Kai himself who confront meabout it. Well, sort of.”

“ _Mwo_?” Now she didn’t even bother to hid her surprisement, “When?”

He just shrugged his shoulders, “It didn’t matter when. What matters now is what would you do if he decided to come in between us? Don’t even try to lie to me, Soojung-ah, I know you have some feelings with him, too...”

Seeing there’s no way out of it, Soojung jutted out her lips and once again buried her face deep into his chest, “I don’t know... but for now, I like you much much more...”

“Soojung-ah...” he was disappointed at her answer. _For now, so there’s still space for her feelings to change..._

“But to be honest,” she looked up at him again, “I really couldn’t imagine myself being _this_ close with him... It’s just—weird, I guess...”

Minhyuk then put his hands on her shoulder, breaking her embrace as he looked deep into her eyes, once again asking her, “Are you sure?”

“Hm,” she nodded immediately.

But he didn’t stop there. He took her hands and dragged her along with him a few steps behind to sit on the bed. He put his fingers between their intertwined hands, and this time, it was him who looked up at her, “Is there anyone else that I should’ve known about?”

He squeezed her hands tight to encourage her to tell him the truth since she looked a bit hesitant. Eventually, she spoke up, “I don’t know if you’re already know about GD _oppa_... It’s nothing really! I used to have an instagram account and he used to like every single picture of me, so his fans were pretty angry, so I deleted my account... but that’s just it! I’d never really had any interaction with him, anyway...”

“Is that all?”

“There’s no one else I could think about...”

“No more lies?”

“No more lies.”

“Then come here.”

She practically jumped into his lap as he pulled her in and aimed straigth at her lips for a kiss. His hands cradled her face gently while hers encircle around his neck, tugging at the soft hair on his nape. Both of them couldn’t hold their excitement as they poured their heart out into the kiss, missing the feeling of being in each other’s arms, craving for that heat as their bodies dance to fill in the spaces that was left empty for the past week. A similar sensation that she had been rooting for ever since their last date came upon her as she straddled him with both of her legs on each side of his, making it imppossible to not notice the growing hardness down _there_. He let out a sexy growl as he bit her exposed neck, while his hands grabbed her bottom and pulled her even more closer.

“ _Oh God, oppa..._ ”

“ _Shit_!”

_Shitshitshit!_

His head was aching due to the way her fingers pulling out at his hair like her life depended on it, but it was nothing compared to the painful desire _below_ that he had to held inside. The first few buttons of her shirt had popped out unceremoniously, exposing her milky white skin and the swell of her breast into his hungry eyes, and he couldn’t help himself but to bury his face there; lips, teeth, and tounge exploring every inch of her flesh that he could get, sending even more dangerous quivers to her body.

It went on and on and on to the point where he didn’t realize when did she’d gotten rid of his shirt, her fingers now roaming all over his chest and back, scratching his body with her nails. She was still fully clothed, but it didn’t stop her to hump him deliciously. It was so uncharacteristically her; she used to always be on the receiving end of every kind of affection, she normally was too shy to initiate anything like a kiss, let alone a full-body skin ship like they were doing now. So Minhyuk was kinda taken aback as she biting on his lips aggressively and breathlessly moaning his name while his hands roaming all over her body.

 _God. She was so hot_.

He couldn’t take it.

He knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop if they were going any further than this.

***

Soojung could feel the heat from his skin like current electricity jolting every tips of her body. She couldn’t stop it. It went through from their attached lips up to the cells of her brain making everything hazy and blurred; and down to her knees. Minhyuk _oppa_ was practically holding her body up the whole time, if he didn’t, she’d probably ended up slumped on the floor, boneless. She didn’t know what had gotten into her to act _this_ bold, hell, she didn’t even realize she was doing _it_ until he held her face between his hands and stopped their making out session, putting a few inches between their bodies to slow her down.

“Soojung-ah… we need to stop…” he said between breathless sighs.

_God, how could his rasped voice turn her on this much?!_

Still unable to control herself, she captured his lips between hers once again, continuing their previous session. She could feel him chuckled as she did so, and strangely, it sent her over the edge all over again. She felt the dampness down on her core, the pulsating needs that she tried to overcome by grinding and gyrating her hips on his hardness, only to leave her wanting more and more. Unsatisfied, she gripped his hair harshly, slammed her body on his chest, and rubbed her breast to the hardness of his muscles. _God_ , she’d been dying to know what was hidden beneath those clothes. Opting on wearing comfortable T-shirts, sweaters, and suits, Minhyuk _oppa_ was rarely seen to wear any sleeveless shirt; but when he did, the muscles on his arms were peeking out, probably from hours of beating up the drums. But after being hugged and held by him countless times, somehow she knew that he wasn’t lying when he said that he had abs.

And to see it unfolded right before her eyes, especially in the heat of the moment, had done it to her.

It was strange really, since she wasn’t the type of girl who would fall for muscular men, but maybe because it was _him_ , his lovable looks that was so contrast with his abs tone, added with his disheveled hair (thanks to her), had make him deliciously hot. A good boy like him shouldn’t look this… naughty. It was a crime.

And his eyes, his lips— _God, his lips_ —and his very skillful tongue that could do wonders on her body…

“Soojung-ah… _fuck_ …”

_God, he looked even hotter when he cursed!_

The wetness on her core was flowing rapidly. She wished he would get rid all of these barriers between them, she wanted him to palm her breast and rolled her hard rock nipples, to feel his tongue playing with it, his fingers on her lower lips—

_Wait. What?_

After she registered what was happening, she could feel the blood rushed up to her face.

_OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGodohmyGodohmyGodohmyGodohmyGodohmyGodohmyGod_

_What the hell did I’ve done???_

_This is so embarrassing!!_

Chuckling at her sudden realization, Minhyuk resting his forehead on hers and looked deep into her eyes, “That’s my Soojung. Even though I’m excited to see this aggressive side of you—Ouch!”

Soojung pinched his side to stop him from making fun of her. All she wanted to do now was buried her face to the ground. She didn’t know that too much desire could make you blind and unaware of your own actions.

She didn’t know that she wanted him that much.

Still grinning from ear to ear, Minhyuk planted butterfly kisses on her lips, nose, eyes, and her forehead, “It’s alright,” his kisses had magically soothed her panic mode, “It’s comforting to see you want me that much.” And that’s how he made her feel hot and bothered again.

 _Damn him_.

“But… you’re not breaking up with me, right?”

“After that? Nope. But,” he lifted her away from his lap then turned her around so she could lie down on the bed. Kissing her lightly he added, “I need to take a cold shower now. And you, you need to stay here, _arraseo_?”

“ _Wae…_ ” she started to whine only to stop when he sent her a deathly glare. Piercing her eyes suspiciously, she asked, “You’re not going to molest me while I’m sleeping, aren’t you?”

Smiling mischievously, he quipped back, “Shouldn’t I be the one who asked you that?”

“ _Yaaahh!!!_ ”

He put his body on top of her, laughing hard. “However,” he kissed her before he turned serious once again, “I’m going to be even more angry if you take one step out of this bed. Okay?”

She could do nothing other than nodding her head playfully, “ _Nde~~~_ ”

And with that, he pecked her lips once again before he slipped out of the bed straight to the bathroom. She watched his retreated back—which was also filled with muscles, _ugh_ —then curled herself to sleep.

***

The next morning, she woke up after the sun’s shining through the window. It was the best sleep she had had in a week. Her pillow seemed a bit softer, her blanket felt a little bit warmer making her wanted to fall asleep again. However, when she opened her eyes, she found herself in a very unfamiliar place.

Taking in her surroundings, she realized that indeed it wasn’t her room. There’s some kind of a different scent all around her, but it’s the kind that she could get used to. And then, she felt that her pillow was moving— _huh?_ —she was really surprised when she realized that it’s not a pillow. But _someone’s_ _chest_! A man’s chest! No wonder she thought that she heard the sound of a heart beating on her ear. The next thing she knew was that she’s not only sleeping on a man’s torso, but the man practically all over her, holding her close, flush to flush.

When it’s finally dawn on her on who it might be, she took a quick glance to confirm her suspicion. Happiness immediately surged upon her when she saw Minhyuk _oppa_ was sleeping soundly right beside her. Hair in disarray, mouth opened, he looked like a child while sleeping. _Aigoo_ … even looking cute he still managed to make her wanted to kiss him.

 _Get a hold of yourself, Jung Soojung_.

Instead of surrendering to her desire, she buried her body closer to him, smelling his comfortable scent to satiate herself.

“Watch out, Jungie-yah… you don’t want to bother my buddy down there…”

“ _Mwo?_ You’re awake?”

Because she was startled, her body moved so quickly that her thigh accidentally nudged his morning hardness. He was groaning both in agony and pleasure, while she covered her mouth and moved her legs out of his way.

“Oops… _mian_ …” she apologized. It wasn’t like she didn't know what most guys had been through every morning, but it was the first time she had to deal with it. Still, it was embarrassing.

But what should she do? Should she move away from him? _Shireo_. She definitely didn’t want to do that.

Like reading her mind, he held her closer before opened up his eyes to gaze down at her.

“ _Gwenchana_ … let’s stay like this for a while, okay?”

“Ng,” she agreed obligedly.

So they stayed like that for a few minutes. Holding each other close, savoring the peaceful moment together in silence, just the way they like it to be. She was drawing circles on his chest absentmindedly, while he was playing with her hair and kissing the top of her head every once in a while. Moments like this were so hard to find, where they could just be; no interruption, no one else’s there but the two of them.

She broke the silence when a question popped out into her mind, “ _Oppa_ , what are we going to do now?”

With a heavy sigh, he replied, “We need to talk to your CEO. But we need a strategy first.”

Propping her chin on his chest to look up at him, she asked him again with growing curiosity, “Do you have any idea?”

“Well, I have one. But I don’t know how it would work out. Do you trust me?”

*** 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: *tiptoeing in*
> 
> I won't bothered with excuses now, but I hope you like this chapter. I was contemplating on where I should take this story, but hey it was chapter 19 already, just get the deed done already. Muahahahaha...
> 
> Btw, I still have a few dramas in store for this story, but I'm not sure if I should go with it (since my kind of drama was boring) or should I just finished the drama for a few chapters and turned it into a series of one-shot. I also have 2 other stories that had been plaguing my mind for these past weeks, one of ChanBo after The Heirs and one of some angsty MinKrys, I'll probably posted them when I have the time. So I don't know, my mind is kind of a mess right now, maybe your opinion would help?


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